Isaacus Hull peritos arte superat Jul MDCCCXII Aug. certamine fortes. ℞. Horae memento victoria.
CAPTAIN ISAAC HULL.
[Capture of the Guerrière.]
ISAACUS HULL PERITOS ARTE SUPERAT JUL. (Julii), MDCCCXII AUG. (Augusti) CERTAMINE FORTES.[75] (Isaac Hull conquers in July, 1812, the skilled by stratagem, and in August, the strong in battle.) Bust of Captain Hull, in uniform, facing the left. On edge of bust, R. (Reich).
HORAE MOMENTO VICTORIA. (Victory in the space of an hour.) Naval action between the United States frigate Constitution, of forty-four guns, Captain Hull, and the British frigate Guerrière, of forty-nine guns, Captain Dacres. The Constitution, firing her starboard battery, carries away the Guerrière's mizzenmast, which, in falling, takes with it the mainmast; the Guerrière, having already lost her foremast, is completely dismasted; the Constitution, on the contrary, is but slightly injured in her rigging. Exergue: INTER CONST. NAV. AMER. ET GUER. ANGL. (Inter Constitution navem Americanam et Guerrière Anglicanam: Between the American vessel Constitution and the English vessel Guerrière).[76]
Isaac Hull was born at Derby, Connecticut, March 9, 1775. He was first in the merchant service, but entered the navy as lieutenant in 1798, and served under Commodores Preble and Barron before Tripoli, 1802-1805. In May, 1804, he was appointed master-commandant, and in April, 1806, captain. On July 17, 1812, and on the following two days, while in command of the frigate Constitution, he found himself becalmed, with a fleet of five British vessels in pursuit of him, but by repeatedly sending out his kedge anchors and hauling his ship up to them, he kept out of their reach until the breeze sprung up again, when he soon left them far astern. A few weeks later, August 19, he fell in with and captured the British frigate Guerrière, Captain J. A. Dacres, for which gallant action Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal. After the war, he commanded in the Pacific and the Mediterranean. He was a member of the Naval Board, and was at the head of the navy yards at Boston and at Washington. He died in Philadelphia, February 3, 1843.