The Barbary Wars, Part 2: The Philadelphia is Lost

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

On May 10, 1801, Tripoli declared war on the United States, hoping to coerce President Thomas Jefferson to increase tribute payments, but Jefferson felt the honor of the United States was at stake and he refused. Instead, Jefferson sent Commodore Richard Dale and a small fleet of American frigates to impose a blockade of Tripoli. In September 1803, to better prosecute the war, additional warships were sent to the Mediterranean under the command of Captain Edward Preble along with a star-studded cast of future naval heroes including Oliver Hazard Perry, Issac Hull, Stephen Decatur, and John Rodgers. But before Preble’s fleet was on station and aggressive action could be taken, one of the American ships, the frigate USS Philadelphia under Captain William Bainbridge, met with disaster. 

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses the fate of the USS Philadelphia and why it still matters today.

Images courtesy of the Wikimedia, National Gallery of Art, Naval History and Heritage Command, National Gallery of Art, British Library, Toledo Museum of Art, USS Constitution Museum, National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Yale University Art Gallery.

RELATED ARTICLES
Road to War, Part 3: President Jefferson Declares Economic War
Road to War, Part 3: President Jefferson Declares Economic War

When the Democratic-Republicans came to power in the election of 1800, the Jefferson administration effectively shut down and disbanded both the United States Army and Navy. As a result, when American merchant ships were abused and seized as contraband of war on the high seas and in British and French ports during the Napoleonic wars, the United States was helpless to respond.

Road to War, Part 2: The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
Road to War, Part 2: The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair

One of the most prominent grievances that led the United States to declare war on Great Britain in 1812 was the impressment of sailors serving on American merchant ships by the Royal Navy. Although this practice continued until after the Napoleonic wars ended in 1815, it truly reached its ugly climax in the summer of 1807 with the infamous Chesapeake-Leopard affair, a naval encounter that brought the two countries to the brink of war.

Road to War, Part 1: The Causes of the War of 1812
Road to War, Part 1: The Causes of the War of 1812

Many people have called the War of 1812 the “second American Revolution,” and while that phrase has some merit, the facts do not fully support the assertion. It is true that in both cases America’s enemy was Great Britain and the main catalyst that took us to war was American animosity resulting from perceived British wrongs, but the similarities essentially end there.

The Barbary Wars, Part 5: U.S. Navy Triumphant in Tripoli
The Barbary Wars, Part 5: U.S. Navy Triumphant in Tripoli

Commodore Edward Preble assembled his considerable American fleet just outside Tripoli harbor in August 1804, determined to punish the city and its corsairs, and force Yusuf Karamanli, the Dey of Tripoli, to sue for peace.

The Barbary Wars, Part 4: To the Shores of Tripoli
The Barbary Wars, Part 4: To the Shores of Tripoli

William Eaton led the first successful invasion of a foreign land by the United States when in 1804 he led a handful of Marines and a hodgepodge assembly of Christian mercenaries and unruly Arabs to conquer the Tripolitan port city of Derne.

The Barbary Wars, Part 3: “The Most Daring Act of the Age”
The Barbary Wars, Part 3: “The Most Daring Act of the Age”

Captain William Bainbridge managed to run the USS Philadelphia hard aground on a submerged reef in Tripoli harbor on October 31, 1803, and this pristine frigate, one of the top ships in the United States Navy was now in grave danger of falling into the hands of the Tripolitan pirates.

The Barbary Wars, Part 2: The Philadelphia is Lost
The Barbary Wars, Part 2: The Philadelphia is Lost

Soon after Thomas Jefferson was sworn in as our country’s third president on March 4, 1801, Yusuf Karamanli, the Pasha of Tripoli, decided to renounce the existing treaty his North African province had with the United States. Unhappy with the amount of his annual tribute and feeling under-compensated compared to his fellow tyrant, the Dey of Algiers, Karamanli demanded that the new President give him a one-time gift of $250,000 and an annual tribute of $20,000.

Americana Corner’s 250th Article Launches Barbary Wars Series
Americana Corner’s 250th Article Launches Barbary Wars Series

The Treaty of Paris of 1783 that ended the American Revolution, brought the United States its long-desired liberty and independence from Great Britain. But with that separation came the loss of protection on the high seas for American merchant ships by the Royal Navy. And the removal of that security blanket had painful and expensive consequences for the young country which were first felt several thousand miles away, in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

The End of the Quasi-War
The End of the Quasi-War

The only fighting in the Quasi-War occurred at sea, and mostly in the Caribbean. But with war at a fever pitch and French interests so close by in Louisiana, there was a very real concern in Congress about a possible French invasion of the United States from the west. 

The Quasi-War with France
The Quasi-War with France

Between 1798 and 1800, the United States fought an undeclared war with France called the Quasi-War, or Half War, because it was not formally recognized by Congress. It was largely a naval conflict fought in the Caribbean and southern coast of America and developed because of a series of related events that soured the formerly strong relationship between the two nations.

Relations with France Fall Apart
Relations with France Fall Apart

America’s first armed conflict with a foreign nation following the American Revolution was not the War of 1812, but rather a mostly forgotten fight called the Quasi-War. Although little known today, in its time it made a significant impact on the course of American history, affecting trade, the creation of the United States Navy, and a presidential election. 

Tom Hand
Previous

The Barbary Wars, Part 3: “The Most Daring Act of the Age”
Next

The Barbary Wars, Part 1: Pirates of the Mediterranean