East Coast Great Lakes / Saint Lawrence River West Indies / Gulf Coast Pacific Ocean The sinking of HMS Peacock was a naval action fought off the mouth of the Demerara River, Guyana on 24 February 1813, between the sloop of war USS Hornet and the Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Peacock.

)[4] On 13 December, the two American ships arrived off Salvador, Bahia on the coast of Brazil, where they found the British sloop of war HMS Bonne Citoyenne.

Commodore William Bainbridge, commanding Constitution, sent a letter to the captain of Bonne Citoyenne, challenging him to fight Hornet.

Aboard Hornet, Master Commandant James Lawrence was aware from Portuguese sources that a British ship of the line was expected.

On 14 February, Hornet encountered and captured the British packet brig Resolution, which was carrying twenty thousand dollars in gold and silver.

As evening drew on, Lawrence then noted a British brig-sloop, HMS Espiegle, at anchor in the river, and another, Peacock, approaching from seaward.

[3] Captain Peake of Peacock turned downwind to bring his opposite battery to bear, but Lawrence had carried out the same maneuver more rapidly.

Hornet made for Martha's Vineyard, the nearest point of the American coast known not to be watched by the Royal Navy.

[12] His brother, Eliakim Doolittle, at the same time composed a song,[13] whose first verse is: Ye Demo's attend and ye Federalists too, I'll sing you a song that you all know is new, Concerning a Hornet, true stuff, I'll be bailed, That tickled the Peacock and lowered his tail, A political cartoon John Bull stung to agony by the Wasp and Hornet, similarly carrying the slogan ″Huzza for ′Free Trade and Sailor's Rights′" and referring to the victories of The Wasp as well, was published on 1813-03-01 and is now in the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania amongst others.