[9][10] Joshua Humphreys' design was long of keel and incorporated a diagonal scantling (rib) scheme to limit hogging (warping) and included extremely heavy planking.

[11][12][13] However, Chesapeake was a scaled-down version of his more famous designs for Constitution, United States and President, being closer in size to the standard European frigates of the day, and mounting the usual armament of 18-pounder guns.

Her keel was laid down in December 1795 at the Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk County – now the city of Portsmouth in Hampton Roads, Virginia, where Josiah Fox had been appointed her naval constructor and Richard Dale as superintendent of construction.

Fox, always an opponent of Humphreys' large design, submitted new plans to Stoddert which called for utilizing the existing keel but reducing the overall dimensions substantially in length and partially of beam.

[Note 1] Originally designated as a 44-gun ship, her redesign by Fox led to a rerating, apparently based on her smaller dimensions when compared to Congress and Constellation.

[23] The most recent information on her rating is from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, published in 2011, which states she was rerated "from 44 guns to 36, eventually increased to 38".

[22] In preparing for the War of 1812 Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton directed Captain Samuel Evans to recruit the number of crewmen required for a 44-gun ship.

Each commanding officer modified his vessel's armament to his liking while taking into consideration factors such as the overall tonnage of cargo, complement of personnel aboard, and planned routes to be sailed.

In March Josiah Fox was reprimanded by Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert for continuing to work on Chesapeake while Congress, still awaiting completion, was fully manned with a crew drawing pay.

[36] On 6 June she joined a squadron patrolling off the southern coast of the United States and in the West Indies escorting American merchant ships.

[39] In 1801 Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli, dissatisfied with the amount of tribute he received in comparison to that paid to Algiers, demanded an immediate payment of $250,000.

[40] Thomas Jefferson responded by sending a squadron of warships to protect American merchant ships in the Mediterranean and to pursue peace negotiations with the Barbary States.

[48] Chesapeake sailed from Hampton Roads on 27 April 1802 and arrived at Gibraltar on 25 May; she immediately put in for repairs, as her main mast had split during the voyage.

[53] Constellation sailed directly as ordered, but Morris retained Chesapeake at Malta, claiming that she was not in any condition to make an Atlantic voyage during the winter months.

[58] Morris remained in the Mediterranean until September, when orders from Secretary Smith arrived suspending his command and instructing him to return to the United States.

[61][62] Consul William Eaton reported to Secretary Smith that Morris and his squadron spent more time in port sightseeing and doing little but "dance and wench", rather than blockading Tripoli.

[32] At the same time, a British squadron consisting of HMS Melampus, Bellona, and Leopard (a 50-gun fourth rate) were lying off the port of Norfolk blockading two French ships there.

Mobs of angry citizens destroyed two hundred water casks destined for the squadron and nearly killed a British lieutenant before local authorities intervened.

During the cruise an unidentified British ship-of-the-line and a frigate chased Chesapeake but, after a passing storm squall, the two pursuing ships were gone the next morning.

Shannon had been under the command of Broke since 1806 and, under his direction, the crew held daily great gun and small arms drills lasting up to three hours each.

Broke had also fitted out his cannons with dispart and tangent sights to increase accuracy as well as degree bearings on the decks and gun carriages to allow the crew to focus their fire on a specific target.

[88][89] Leaving port with a broad white flag bearing the motto "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights", Chesapeake met Shannon near 5 pm that afternoon.

[93] Confusion and disarray reigned on the deck of Chesapeake; Captain Lawrence tried rallying a party to board Shannon, but the bugler failed to sound the call.

[94] At this point a shot from a sniper mortally wounded Lawrence; as his men carried him below, he gave his last order: "Don't give up the ship.

She served on the Halifax station under the command of Alexander Dixie until 1814, and, in April, was sighted in the Chesapeake Bay, off the coast of Virginia's Eastern Shore.

[116] Almost from her beginnings, Chesapeake was considered an "unlucky ship", the "runt of the litter" to the superstitious sailors of the 19th century,[117] and the product of a disagreement between Humphreys and Fox.

Her unsuccessful encounters with HMS Leopard and Shannon, the courts-martial of two of her captains, and the accidental deaths of several crewmen led many to believe she was cursed.

Oliver Hazard Perry, in command of naval forces on Lake Erie during September 1813, named his flagship Lawrence, which flew a broad blue flag bearing the words "Dont give up the ship!"

[120][121] The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, holds several artifacts from the battle including the mess kettle, and an officers chest from Chesapeake.

[123] A fictionalized account of the battle between Chesapeake and Shannon appears at the conclusion of The Fortune of War, the sixth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1979.