USS ''Guerriere'' was the first frigate built in the

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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

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. She was built at the

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under the supervision of

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and Francis Grice. She was launched on 20 June 1814 under the command of

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and attached to the Delaware Flotilla. She served in the

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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

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acts against American merchant commerce by Algiers and other Barbary States. Waldo, 1821 p. 248 On 17 June 1815, off the

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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

. Lieutenant Monroe was wounded during the battle and would later serve in

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. ''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 , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

on 13 July 1815 and with Tripoli on 9 August 1815. Guerriere

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

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under

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

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, seven brigs, and three schooners, was the largest fleet ever collected under the American flag in the

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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

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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

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to his new post. After calls at Gibraltar, Cowes and

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, she disembarked the American Minister and his family at

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, 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

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. She sailed on 13 February 1829, landing passengers at

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before rounding

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for

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. In the following two years, she watched over American commerce, including the

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fleet, along the western seaboard of

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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