USS President

The President was built in 1800. Because her final design had been altered, she proved to be the fastest of the three 44s (44s refers to the three 44-gun frigates of the US Navy; the Constitution, the United States, and the President). After the HMS Guerriere, the same frigate that was to fight the Constitution in the War of 1812, had stopped an American brig and captured an American sailor, the President was ordered to hunt out the Guerriere and take back the sailor. On May 16, 1811, the President spotted a vessel believed to be the 38-gun Guerriere, but in fact turned out to be the 22-gun HMS Little Belt. The Little Belt proved no match for the President, and fled after only a few minutes of battle. On January 15, 1815, the President was captured. She had been ambushed by a British blockade, and, after defeating the first British ship, the Endymion, the other three British ships, the 38-gun Pomone, the 38-gun Tenedos, and the 56-gun Majestic, managed to catch up to the President, and the captain, realizing further resistance would be futile, surrendered.