The Seaweed

USS Champlin DD-601  

Spring 2002

      Stephen Champlin

      (continued from page 5)

10 days before another group which had left Sackett's Harbor by schooner two hours before Champlin's group did. On July 25th, Stephen was ordered to fit out and take command of the "Scorpion".

"As second in command to Perry at Erie, Stephen participated in the expeditions against Fort George & Fort York (Toronto) aboard the "Asp". Later, while in command of the two gun schooner "Scorpion", Stephen led the attack on the British fleet during the Battle of Lake Erie on September 13, 1813. He is credited with having fired the first shot of this battle, which effectively ended British control of the Great Lakes, and in capturing the "Little Belt" he also fired the last shots.

"In 1840, the Rhode Island Historical Society asked Captain Champlin to write for them "a candid and impartial statement of the facts within.....his recollection, respecting the service rendered by Commodore O.H. Perry in creating and equipping the fleet, and the part he sustained as Commander of it in the Battle of Lake Erie".

Stephen Champlin's personal narrative of the Battle of Lake Erie will follow in subsequent issues of The Seaweed. I hope you have enjoyed the tale so far.

Thanks and Next

"Thanks to Richard Berman, Joseph Black, John Brawdy, Max Carpenter, Thomas DiGiovanna, Louis Gilbert, Irwin Kappes, Bill Kraatz and Arnold Simerly for their contributions to this issue.

Pulitzer Prize Announced...sadly, The Seaweed did not win . . . . . .again. After ponderin' this lack of journalistic success, I think I know where I failed. Yup, you guessed it - I didn't have your story to print. Sooo, help me out by sending me your memories and recollections of life aboard the USS Champlin DD-601.

Reunion Reminders: Don't forget the Mini-Reunion in NJ in May. Contact Lou Gilbert, (631) 957-1132, for information. The Annual Reunion will be held in Kansas City, MO Oct. 9-13, 2002. Attached to this issue of The Seaweed is an information sheet and registration form from Norm Prewitt, Chairman. With the assistance of Norm, we are trying to save some postage expense by including his mailing in this issue. Make your reservations now for this important gathering. Now hear this, all hands on deck!!

William D. Gustin, Historian
Champlin Reunion Group
3480 Geneva Turnpike
Canandaigua, NY 14424-9778
e-mail: skivywaver@myrealbox.com