HMS Confiance (1814) - Relics

Relics

Today there is nothing that remains of the wreck of the Confiance herself. However, several major relics from the vessel still exist and fortunately have been preserved:

• The White Ensign from the Confiance, taken as an American prize, survived long enough to be photographed in the late 19th century. Its whereabouts or whether it even still exists today is not known.

• A 24-pounder cannon from the captured Confiance, actually the same gun responsible for the death of her commanding officer, Commodore George Downie, can be found today on display in front of Macdonough Hall at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland. The indentation on the muzzle of this gun left by the ball from the USS Saratoga is still present.

• In 1996, sport divers located a massive main anchor from the Confiance which had been lost in Plattsburgh Bay during the 1814 Naval battle. Weighing almost 1 ton, the anchor underwent conservation work at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. It was given a round of mechanical cleaning (scraping the rust off) and then treated with tannic acid to seal the metal. After its cleaning and treatment, the anchor revealed a large dent in one of its flukes made by a cannonball hit. A maker's mark could also be clearly seen, from Hawks, Crawshay, & Co. in Gateshead, England. This anchor is currently on display in the lobby of City Hall in Plattsburgh, New York.