Alligator II (Sloop)
II
The second Alligator, a sloop of unknown origin, was purchased by the Navy in 1813 at New Orleans, La., for conversion to a gunboat. Commissioned as a tender at New Orleans, she served on that station under the command of Sailing Master Richard S. Sheppard until late in 1814. When the British entered Lake Borgne early on the morning of 14 December 1814, Alligator attempted to join the other American gunboats on the lake. The British boats, however, cut her off and quickly captured her. Thus, her participation in the Battle of Lake Borgne, an American defeat, but one that helped to buy precious time for General Andrew Jackson's successful defense of New Orleans, proved very brief. Her disposition by the British is unknown.
