On the morning of September 10, 1813, as the Battle of Lake Erie was about to begin, the U.S. Brig Lawrence raised her battle flag and joined a flotilla of nine ships sailing from Put-in-Bay under American commander Oliver Hazard Perry, who directed his ships to engage British vessels across the lake. By the end of the day, the American ships had soundly defeated the British in an intense naval battle. The Lawrence was a Niagara-class brig with a displacement of 493 tons, a length of 110 feet, a beam of 29 feet, a draft of 9 feet, a complement of 134 men, and an armament of two 12-pounder cannons and eighteen 32-pounder carronades.