In the spring of 1812, more than 34 schooners in merchant service on Lake Ontario transported people and cargoes of salt, potash, foodstuffs, and manufactured goods. These small vessels carried 50 to 100 tons of cargo, and larger vessels were impractical because most lake port entries were shallow. When war broke out, the only U.S. naval vessel on Lake Ontario was the 18-gun brig Oneida, so Commodore Isaac Chauncey purchased 11 schooners and armed them to support it. As warships, these schooners carried broadside guns and heavier pivot guns, transported troops, powder, shot, and provisions, and were manned by up to 40 men in crowded conditions, unlike the pre-war crews of three or four men. Schooner-gunboats took part in the attack on Kingston in 1812, the attacks on York and Fort George in 1813, and three skirmishes between the British and American squadrons on Lake Ontario in August and September 1813. In early June 1812, the USS Oneida seized the British merchant schooner Lord Nelson on suspicion of smuggling goods into the United States; after condemnation and sale by court order, the Navy bought it for $2,999.25, armed it, and renamed it Scourge. Because merchant schooners were designed to carry cargo below deck, the many tons of armament placed on deck made them top-heavy and unstable, especially in bad weather. Hamilton and Scourge were upset in a sudden squall in August 1813 and remain intact at the bottom at the western end of Lake Ontario, while other schooners were often towed by larger warships to avoid the same fate.