USS ''Spitfire'' was a bomb ketch converted from a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

that served the U.S. Navy during the republic's early years. She carried ammunition for the U.S. Navy warships in the Mediterranean in their battles with the

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...

, and was later involved in the ''Little Belt'' affair prior to the War of 1812.

Service history

The second ship to be so named by the Navy, ''Spitfire''—a merchant sloop built in Connecticut in 1803—was purchased by the Navy at Boston, Massachusetts, on 25 April 1805; was commissioned the same day; and converted to a bomb ketch by the Boston Navy Yard. Commanded by Midshipman Daniel McNeill, Jr., ''Spitfire'' sailed for the Mediterranean on 23 June 1805 and reached

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

on 1 August. The bomb ketch operated in the Mediterranean supporting American operations against the Barbary powers until sailing for home on 3 June 1806. She arrived at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, on 19 July and was placed in ordinary at

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, on 3 August 1806. The ship was reactivated in July 1807 under the command of Midshipman F. Cornelius de Kroff but remained at Norfolk until laid up again in December. On 1 May 1811, ''Spitfire'' was stopped by the fifth-rate off New Jersey's Sandy Hook. ''Guerriere'' impressed the apprentice sailing master of ''Spitfire'', John Diggio, a citizen of Maine. This incident led to a confrontation fifteen days later between the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s and (mistaken for the ''Guerriere''), as ''President'' attempted to recover Diggio. The ensuing ''Little Belt'' affair provoked a diplomatic furor between the United States and Great Britain. It contributed to the tense atmosphere between the two powers prior to the War of 1812. ''Spitfire'' was broken up at the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1820.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spitfire Ships built in Connecticut Ammunition ships of the United States Navy Barbary Wars American ships Ketches of the United States Navy 1800s ships