Stephen Decatur Sr. (June 1751 – November 11, 1808) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

officer and privateer who served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and the

Quasi-War The Quasi-War was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States, with minor actions in ...

. He was commissioned as a captain in the United States Navy, and was the father of

Stephen Decatur Commodore (United States), Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was a United States Navy officer. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County. His father, Ste ...

Life

Born in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

, Decatur was a merchant captain before the Revolution. He married Ann Pine; in addition to Stephen Jr., they had two other children: Lieutenant James Decatur, who was killed in action in 1804 during the

Barbary Wars The Barbary Wars were a series of two wars fought by the United States, Sweden, and the Kingdom of Sicily against the Barbary states (including Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli) and Morocco of North Africa in the early 19th century. Sweden had bee ...

, and Ann Decatur McKnight. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

he commanded the ''Royal Louis'' and the ''Fair American''. With the outbreak of the

Quasi War The Quasi-War was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States, with minor actions in ...

with France, Decatur was commissioned as a captain in the United States Navy on May 11, 1798. On May 5, 1798, Decatur was placed in command of the converted merchant ship and sailed in the first American Navy squadron to cross the Atlantic along with his son Stephen Decatur Jr. ''Delaware'' captured a French privateer, ''La Croyable'', off Great Egg Harbor, N.J., on 7 July 1798. The U.S. Navy purchased ''La Croyable'' on 30 July 1798, and renamed her . From 14 July to 23 September, ''Delaware'' cruised in the West Indies, often in company with the frigate , and together the ships took two privateers prize. During her second cruise in the West Indies, between 15 December 1798 and 20 May 1799, she took another prize. On October 12, 1799, he was inducted as a Mason in St. John's Lodge #1 in

. In 1800, Decatur commissioned ''Philadelphia'', the very vessel that his son later burned several months after it ran aground and was captured near Tripoli harbor in 1803. In accordance with the Peace Establishment Act of 1801, which greatly reduced the United States Army and Navy, Decatur was discharged from the Navy on October 22, 1801. He died in 1808, at his country home "Millsdale" in Frankford,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He is interred next to his famous son at St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia.

References

External links

Drawing of Decatur
*

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Decatur, Stephen Sr. 1751 births 1808 deaths Continental Navy officers United States Navy officers American military personnel of the Quasi-War Military personnel from Newport, Rhode Island People from colonial Rhode Island Burials at St. Peter's churchyard, Philadelphia