HMS Leopard and the Chesapeake affair

In 1807, station flagship HMS Leopard was sent to demand the return of Royal Navy deserters serving in USS Chesapeake. Commodore James Barron refused to let another nation's warship search his ship. British officers, long accustomed to operating off the American coast and calling at its ports, treated his refusal as an affront to the Crown. Chesapeake carried 18-pounders, while Leopard mounted twenty-two 24-pounders, twenty-two 12-pounders, and about eight 6-pounders. Leopard forced Chesapeake to submit, leaving four Americans dead and seventeen wounded. The British removed only four men with Royal Navy service, executing the British-born Jenkin Ratford and eventually returning the three American-born sailors. The confrontation nearly caused war and shows how a fourth rate provided enough station-level force to compel compliance without being so overwhelming that resistance seemed unthinkable.