Asp, the former British merchant vessel Elizabeth, was captured on Lake Ontario in 1812 by the schooner Growler, purchased by the Navy from the prize court: outfitted; and commissioned on 6 February 1813.

Asp got underway on 25 April 1813 as a unit of Commodore Isaac Chauncey's Lake Ontario squadron escorting General Henry Dearborn's 1,700 troops to York (now Toronto), Canada.

While the larger ships of the squadron bombarded the various defenses and batteries around the fort, Asp joined Hamilton and Scourge in covering the landings themselves.

In that victorious combined operation, the American Army and Navy succeeded in securing the Niagara frontier and the river by forcing the British to evacuate the entire area.

The warships arrived at Niagara on the 27th and loaded a force of American troops to repeat the attack on York carried out the previous summer.

On 30 July, the squadron conducted another successful raid on York, destroying 11 British transports and carrying off 5 cannon, some ammunition, and some flour.

The main result of that skirmish was the loss of two American schooners, Growler and Julia, which ships turned in the wrong direction and were cut off by the British.

The British van, composed of their two largest ships, the flagship Wolfe and Royal George, opened with their starboard batteries.

On one occasion, 17 November 1813, she assisted in transporting 1,100 of General William Henry Harrison's troops from the mouth of the Genesee River to Sackett's Harbor.