Decatur was an American

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

built in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1813 for

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

ing during the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

theater of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. She was named for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

Stephen Decatur, who served with distinction in many of America's earliest conflicts. She was the largest privateer out of Charleston. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

captured ''Decatur'' in 1814.

Career

''Decatur'' is best known for being commanded by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Dominique Diron "Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-bo ...

, who captured several British ships during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and the War of 1812. Captain Diron defeated the stronger

schooner in an action off

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on 5 August 1813. After a long engagement the Americans chased down ''Dominica'' and boarded, forcing down her colors and killing her commander in the process. The next day, ''Decatur'' captured the merchantman ''London Trader'' and sent her into Charleston, where she arrived on 20 August. ''London Trader'', Sinclair, master, had been carrying a cargo of 200 Hhds of sugar, 120Hhds of molasses, 70 bags of coffee, rum, cotton, and the like from Surinam to London. ''London Trader'' may have been in company with ''Dominica'', and though armed, had taken no part in the battle. Similarly, the merchantman ''Princess Charlotte'', also in company and also armed, had observed the battle and when she saw that ''Dominica'' had surrendered, had herself escaped. ''Decatur'' also captured ''General Hodgson'', sailing from Surinam to Cayenne, and sent her into Charleston. In November ''Decatur'' went to sea again. However, after cruising for 80 days without success, returned to Charleston. On 22 May 1814, recaptured ''Dominica'', and brought her into Halifax. ''Dominica'' was lost in 1815.

Fate

On 5 June 1814 sighted and gave chase to an American privateer schooner. After an eleven-hour chase ''Rhin'' captured the privateer in the Mona Passage, about four leagues from Cape Engaño. She turned out to be ''Decatur'', still under Diron's command. ''Decatur'', of four guns and 90 men, had sailed from Charleston on 30 March and had made no captures.''Lloyd's List'' 2 August 1814.
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Citations and references

Citations References * * *{{cite book , last=Maclay , first=Edgar Stanton , year=2008 , title=Washington's Wolfpack: The Navy Before There Was A Navy , publisher=Fireship Press Decatur History of the United States Navy 1813 ships