Sir James Lucas Yeo 1782-1818
Text from the plaque
Born in Southampton, England, Yeo entered the British Navy, served throughout the Napoleonic Wars and won rapid promotion by his ability. In 1813, already a Commodore, he came to Canada to command British forces on the Great Lakes. Yeo successfully blockaded the American fleet in Sackett's Harbour for some months and subsequently commanded the naval forces at the capture of Oswego in 1814. Returning to England after the war he was posted to the West African Coast and died at sea while returning from that tour of duty.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The County of Frontenac
The City of Kingston
On the right stone gate post at the Valour Drive entrance
to the Royal Military College grounds
N 44 13.844 W 76 28.172
Recorded May 2009. Check current access before visiting.
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Visitors' notes
September 13, 2014
On this day (Sept. 10) 200 years ago, the greatest warship seen on the Great Lakes in the age of sail was launched. The brainchild of James Yeo, HMS St. Lawrence was a triple-decked monster, with 112 guns, and a crew of more than 830. Such a deterrent, it never saw action, and its two sister ships, including HMS Canada, ceased construction in the closing months of the war. The St. Lawrence was later used by a Kingston brewery for storage before a storm took her to the lake bottom not far from shore, where it rests today below the waters it once safeguarded. -Wayne