USS ''Vixen'' was a

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 ...

in 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 ...

during the

First Barbary War The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War, was a conflict during the Barbary Wars, in which the United States and Sweden fought against Tripolitania. Tripolitania had declared war against Sw ...

. ''Vixen'' was one of four vessels authorized by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

on 28 February 1803. She was built at

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, in the spring of 1803; and launched on 25 June, Lieutenant John Smith in command.

Service

First Barbary War

Designed especially for operations in the shoal waters off the coast of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, ''Vixen'' joined Commodore

Edward Preble Edward Preble (August 15, 1761 – August 25, 1807) was a United States naval officer who served with great distinction during the 1st Barbary War, leading American attacks on the city of Tripoli and forming the officer corps that would la ...

's squadron for duty in the

(1801–1805) immediately upon her commissioning. She sailed from Baltimore on 3 August 1803 under the command of Lieutenant John Smith and deployed with the squadron off

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 14 September. Commodore Preble dispatched ''Vixen'' and 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 ...

in October to establish a blockade of Tripoli. However, ''Vixen'' soon departed in search of two Tripolitan warships and was not present when ''Philadelphia'' grounded and was captured on September 30th. Instead, she carried the dispatches announcing the loss of the frigate and the imprisonment of Captain

William Bainbridge William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774July 27, 1833) was a Commodore in the United States Navy. During his long career in the young American Navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea. He ...

, his officers, and crew back to Gibraltar in December.Retribution for this latest action by the Tripoli pirates came swiftly and dramatically. Lt. Stephen Decatur, Jr., boarded and destroyed ''Philadelphia'' where she lay in Tripoli harbor on 16 February 1804, and Commodore Preble later followed this up with five heavy bombardments of the pirate state on the 3, 7, 24, and 28 August, and on 3 September. ''Vixen'' participated in all these actions, and performed tactical service by helping to coordinate the movements of the various American vessels. While in Malta in 16 October 1804, she was rerigged as a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

, ostensibly to improve her sailing qualities, and was with the squadron, now under Commodore

John Rodgers John Rodgers may refer to: Military * John Rodgers (1728–1791), colonel during the Revolutionary War and owner of Rodgers Tavern, Perryville, Maryland * John Rodgers (naval officer, born 1772), U.S. naval officer during the War of 1812, first ...

, in actions before

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

in August 1805. The warship returned to the United States one year later in August 1806, under the command of Master Commandant George Cox.

Between wars

''Vixen'' was placed in ordinary at the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrativ ...

immediately upon her return from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. She left the yard one year later and subsequently operated along the Atlantic coast under Lieutenants

James Lawrence James Lawrence (October 1, 1781 – June 4, 1813) was an officer of the United States Navy. During the War of 1812, he commanded in a single-ship action against , commanded by Philip Broke. He is probably best known today for his last words, ...

and Charles Ludlow. On 18 June 1810, ''Vixen'' came upon on the sloop off Barbados, which fired on her. Commander Henry Boys apologized to the Americans, reporting that he had been unable to make out her colors and that he thought she might be a French privateer that he was seeking. The Americans suffered one casualty, a man wounded in the mouth by a splinter.

War of 1812

''Vixen'' continued patrolling the Atlantic coast until the outbreak 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 ...

, at which time she sailed along the southern coast under

Master Commandant Master commandant was a rank within the early United States Navy. Both the Continental Navy, started in 1775, and the United States Navy created by the United States Congress, in 1796, had just two commissioned ranks, lieutenant and captain. Maste ...

Christopher Gadsden, Jr., and, after his death on 28 August 1812, under Lt. George Washington Reed, youngest son of General Joseph Reed. During one of her war cruises among the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, ''Vixen'' encountered the 32-gun British frigate , under the command of Captain James Lucas Yeo. ''Southampton'' chased, intercepted, and captured ''Vixen'' on 22 November 1812. Yeo described ''Vixen'' as a brig armed with twelve 18-pounder

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...

s and two 9-pounder guns. She had a crew of 130 men and had been out five weeks but had not captured anything.

Fate

Both vessels (''Southampton'' and ''Vixen'') were wrecked five days after ''Vixen'''s capture on Conception Island in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. All the officers and crews survived. Lt. Reed, however, died later of yellow fever in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

before he could be exchanged.

List of the known Ports of Call

3 August 1803 - Left Baltimore. 14 September 1803 - Arrived at Gibraltar. 7 October 1803 - Arrived off Tripoli with USS ''Philadelphia''. 28 July 1804 - Closed on Tripolitan coast with USS ''Argus'''','' USS ''Constitution'''','' USS ''Syren'''','' USS ''Nautilus'''','' USS ''Enterprise'' and USS ''Scourge''''.'' Later in August USS ''John Adams'' and USS ''Intrepid'' joined. Multiple bombardments of Tripoli were initiated in the following weeks. 6 September 1804 - Left Tripoli for Syracuse. 7 September 1804 - Left Syracuse for Tripoli. 16 (or 18) September 1804 - Arrived at Malta. 28 October 1804 - Left Malta for Syracuse. 29 October 1804 - Arrived at Port of Syracuse. 3 November 1804 - Left Syracuse for

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

. 7 November 1804 - Arrived at Port of Syracuse. USS ''Essex'', USS ''John Adams'', USS ''Argus,'' USS ''Constitution'' and USS ''Congress'' were anchored there. 11 November 1804 - Departed to patrol off Tripoli with USS ''Constellation'', USS ''President'' and USS ''Nautilus''. 27 November 1804 - Arrived at New Tripoli. Fired a shot on shore. 6 December 1804 - Arrived at Malta. 11 December 1804 - Left Malta to patrol off Tripoli. 29 December 1804 - Arrived at Port of Syracuse. She joined there USS ''Essex'', USS ''President'', USS ''Constellation'' and USS ''Congress''. 4 February 1805 - Departed Syracuse. 7 February 1805 - Arrived at Malta. 11 February 1805 - Arrived at Syracuse. 22 February 1805 - Left Syracuse for Malta in a company of USS ''President''. 23 February 1805 - Anchored in the Harbor of

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

, Malta 1 March 1805 - Left Malta for a cruise off Cape Bon Tripoli. 6 March 1805 - On and off Tripoli, supporting the blockade. 18 April 1805 - Left her patrol duty at Tripoli. 21 April 1805 - Arrived at Malta. 22 April 1805 - Arrived at Port of Syracuse. 10 May 1805 - Departed Syracuse. 11 May 1805 - Arrived at Malta. 17 May 1805 - Departed Malta for Tunis. 21 May 1805 - Off Tunis. 24 May 1805 - Arrived at Malta. 26 May 1805 - Departed Malta for Tripoli. 28 May 1805 - Anchored at the harbor of Tripoli. 4 June 1805 - Observed the Stars and Stripes flying again over the U.S. Consulate in Tripoli. 1 August 1805 - ''Vixen'' along with the rest of the Rodgers's sixteen-warship squadron arrived to Tunis for a show of force as Bey Hamouda of Tunis was considering to declare war on the United States.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vixen (1803) Schooners of the United States Navy Brigs of the United States Navy War of 1812 ships of the United States Barbary Wars American ships Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built in Baltimore 1803 ships Maritime incidents in 1812