Langton 28 Gun Frigate USS Adams

I was able to make some time amid all of the holiday activity to knock out another ship. This time I chose to add to my growing American fleet with Langton's 28 gun frigate USS Adams. This is a very nice hull and very easy to put together, taking almost no work at all to complete. Most of the work went into the base! For some bonehead reason I grabbed the wrong sized pre-cut base card and got all the way through sculpting, painting and mounting the ship before I realized I had the wrong size for a 28 gun sixth rate. I had to carefully remove the ship from the base and start over with the correct size base card.

Some Historical data: USS Adams laid down July 30, 1798 in New York. Launched August 6, 1799. Commissioned September 1799. Dimensions at launch: Length 113 ft.; Breadth 34 ft.; Depth of Hold 10 ft. 9 in.; Displacement 530 tons. Standard Compliment 480.
Initial armament: 24 x 12 lb long guns and 6 x 24 lb carronades.

Adams was the smallest frigate built for the US Navy under contract. Adams made two cruises in the Quasi-War with France, recapturing a dozen American or British ships from French prize crews, and capturing two French privateers and five French merchant vessels. During the Barbary wars she made one cruise to the Mediterranean in June 1802 with Commodore Richard Morris' squadron and participated in action against Tripoli. From 1805 to 1806 Adams patrolled the Atlantic coast of the United States. In 1809 she took commission to enforce the Embargo Act. After 1809 she was laid up at the Washington Navy Yard and served as a receiving ship.

In June of 1812 Adams was cut in half amidships and lengthened 15 feet. The purpose was to re-rate the ship as a 36 gun frigate, but the rebuild proved unsatisfactory so Adams was razeed to a 24 gun sloop of war. Blockaded in the Chesapeake, Adams finally escaped to sea in January 1814. On her first cruise she captured five British merchantmen. A second cruise in May covered the Newfoundland Banks to Ireland, during which she took five more British Merchant prizes. On her return she was trapped in the Penobscot River and was burned on 3 September 1814 during the Battle of Hampden to prevent capture by the British. (All of the above historical data paraphrased from "American Light and Medium Frigates 1794-1836" by Mark Lardas.

Dimensions after 1812 rebuild: Length 128 ft.; Breadth 34 ft.; Depth of Hold 10 ft. 9 in.; Compliment 220; Armament: 26 x 18 pdr Columbiads on the gun deck and 1 x 12 pdr long gun on the quarterdeck. (From Wikipedia).

So I am not exactly sure which Adams this Langton model is supposed to be since there are only 22 gun ports and only 4 guns on the quarterdeck, which doesn't match either historical configuration. Oh well, not uncommon with Langton models. Beautiful hulls for sure, but not that accurate.