Existing comment:
Preble Takes Command:
The first two US Navy squadrons temporarily over-powered the Barbary States and saved many American ships, but the squadrons had no permanent success. A tight blockade of Tripoli was impossible sine small craft could hug the coast where Navy ships could not follow them. In 1803, Edward Preble was appointed to command the squadron. The frigates Constitution and Philadelphia, along with several shallow watercraft, were included in the squadron. Preble at 42 was dismayed to find that all of his officers were under the age of 30. Although Preble was a strict disciplinarian, he was an experienced and throughly [sic] professional naval officer. His young officers were soon proud to be known as "Preble's boys," a title they carried into the War of 1812, in which every one of them made a distinguished name for himself. |