USS ''Guerriere'' was the first
frigate built in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
since 1801. The name came from a fast
38-gun British frigate captured and destroyed in a half-hour battle by on 19 August 1812. This victory was one of the United States' first in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
.
She was built at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries.
Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...
under the supervision of
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
and
Francis Grice. She was launched on 20 June 1814 under the command of
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 ...
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 ...
and attached to the
Delaware Flotilla. She served 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
Second Barbary War
The Second Barbary War (1815) or the U.S.–Algerian War was fought between the United States and the North African Barbary Coast states of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers. The war ended when the United States Senate ratified Commodore Stephen ...
.
Second Barbary War operations
After fitting out, she was transferred to the command of
Captain Stephen Decatur and became the
flagship of the squadron assembled at
New York. She sailed from New York on 20 May 1815 to lead the squadron in terminating
piratical
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
acts against American merchant commerce by
Algiers and other Barbary States.
[ Waldo, 1821 p. 248]
On 17 June 1815, off the
Algeria
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n coast, the frigate
drove the 44-gun frigate ''Meshuda'', the flagship of the Algerian Fleet, under the guns of Decatur's flagship, ''Guerriere''. With two broadsides, the American frigate drove below all who were not killed or disabled on ''Meshuda''s decks, where after, ''Meshuda'' surrendered. Among her fatalities was
Rais Hamidu, Algiers' ranking naval officer. Two days later, ''Guerriere'' led the squadron in
driving the 22-gun Algerian brig ''Estedio'' ashore.
On board ''Guerriere'' during the battle was Lieutenant
James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
of the U.S. Army, who was a nephew of President
James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
. Lieutenant Monroe was wounded during the battle and would later serve in
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 ...
.
''Guerriere'' arrived at Algiers on 28 June 1815, ready to act with her squadron for the capture of every Algerian ship that entered port unless the
Dey
Dey (Arabic: داي), from the Turkish honorific title ''dayı'', literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 o ...
ratified the terms of a peace treaty sent him by Decatur. The treaty was negotiated on board ''Guerriere'' on 30 June 1815, ending the payment of tribute to Algiers and exacting full payment for injuries to American commerce.
''Guerriere'' next led the squadron in a show of force that resulted in a peace settlement with
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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on 13 July 1815 and with
Tripoli on 9 August 1815.
Having enforced the peace in less than six weeks from time of sailing from the United States, she combined with the entire
Mediterranean Squadron naval force assembled at
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 ...
under
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 ...
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. ...
. The 18 warships, including
ship-of-the-line , five frigates, two
sloops-of-war
In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...
, seven
brigs, and three
schooners, was the largest fleet ever collected under the American flag in the
Mediterranean Sea
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 ...
to that time. It marked the beginning of a permanent naval fleet in the Mediterranean, which has evolved into the powerful
6th Fleet of today. Then, as today, the fleet was a factor in keeping the peace and strengthening the international diplomacy of the nation.
Peacetime operations
''Guerriere'' returned to New York on 12 November 1815 and was laid up in the
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...
for repairs on 4 March 1816. She recommissioned under Captain
Thomas Macdonough
Thomas Macdonough, Jr. (December 31, 1783 – November 10, 1825) was an early-19th-century Irish-American naval officer noted for his roles in the first Barbary War and the War of 1812. He was the son of a revolutionary officer, Thomas Macdonou ...
on 22 April 1818 for fitting out. On 24 July 1818 she put to sea, carrying the American Minister to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
to his new post. After calls at Gibraltar,
Cowes and
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, she disembarked the American Minister and his family at
Kronstadt
Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...
, Russia, on 17 September 1818. She then cruised throughout the Mediterranean until 26 July 1819 when she departed
Leghorn for
Norfolk, Virginia, arriving 4 October 1819. She remained and was placed in ordinary there on 8 November 1820. For the next seven years she served as a schoolship in the Norfolk Navy Yard, training classes of
midshipmen before the permanent establishment of a naval academy.
''Guerriere'' terminated her schoolship duties late in November 1828 when she was ordered to fit out as the flagship of a U.S. Navy squadron destined for duty in the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
. She sailed on 13 February 1829, landing passengers at
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
before rounding
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...
for
Callao, Peru
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists of the whole C ...
. In the following two years, she watched over American commerce, including the
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industr ...
fleet, along the western seaboard of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
and westward to the
Hawaiian Islands. She departed Callao 8 September 1831 and arrived in Norfolk 29 November 1831. ''Guerriere'' was decommissioned on 19 December 1831, and remained in ordinary at the Norfolk Navy Yard until broken up in 1841.
Bibliography
*
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerriere (1814)
Sailing frigates of the United States Navy
Barbary Wars American ships
Ships built in Philadelphia
1814 ships