Existing comment:
Barbary Wars:
Peace with France freed the new American Navy for other duties. Of primary concern: ongoing conflict in the Mediterranean. The Barbary, or North African, states had stepped up their demands, threatening war if increased "tributes" of money and naval stores were not met.
President Thomas Jefferson, long an opponent of tribute, ordered a "squadron of observation" to cruise of Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers. Although the squadron's primary objective was protecting American merchant shipping, it was prepared for war.
Burning the Philadelphia -- February 1804:
Commo Edward Preble arrived at Gibraltar in 1803, and ordered the schooner Vixen and frigate Philadelphia to blockade Tripoli. In November, he learned that Philadelphia had run aground while chasing a Tripolitan vessel. Philadelphia's commander William Bainbridge was forced to surrender the ship and the crew was taken captive.
Tripoli now had a powerful warship -- unless it could somehow be destroyed. Lt. Stephen Decatur, the son of an earlier captain of Philadelphia, proposed an audacious solution. |