sailor srarioned ar rhe gun to fire ir inro rheir midsr. Ir musr have been a rense rime for rhe five Americans, bur Porrer arrived sa fely in Sr. K irts fo ur days larer. By now, rhe war w ith France was over and the Navy, in a move to rega in fiscal srabi Iiry, began to pur officers ashore. Porrer was invired to remain on active duty as one of only thirty-six lieutenants in the Navy. His assignment now was in the schooner Enterprize, commanded by Lie utenant Andrew Sterrett, a nd they headed off to the Mediterranean as part of Commodore Da !e's squadron to deal with the Tripolita n corsa irs. Ir was August, 1801. While there, they met a nd defeated a fo urteen-gun xe bec manned by corsa irs. Due to the then-exrant rules of engagement, Sterrett was not allowed to rake a prize, so after disablin g the vessel, he h ad to turn it loose. It proved to be rhe only successful engagement of D ale's squadron and the fleet returned home. During his second tour in the Mediterranean, Porter served as first lieutenant in USS Chesapeake, a fri gate of thirty-s ix gun s. During a n arrack on Tripoli tan grain vessels, Porter was wo unded in both legs. Again, his was one of the only actions during Co mmodore Morris's lackluster tour and, fo llowing his recovery, Porter was named
first!ieutenam in USS Philadelphia, rhe illstarred frigate commanded by the equally ill-starred William Ba inbridge. Edward Preble, his flag flying from USS Constitution, ordered Bainbridge to blockade Tripoli harbor while the squadron awaited the arrival of additional ships en route from the U nited States. C aptain Bainbridge took hi s station , but then, on espying several Tripolitan ships trying to slip out of the ha rbor, he gave chase. After several hours, he realized the futiliry of his effort and turned Philadelphia back to retake her station . O n 31 October 1803 Bainbridge ran hi s sh ip agro und on an outcropping of rock rhar held rhe frigare firm ly in irs gras p. Every arrempr to refloar rhe vessel, including chopping off her foremast ar the deck and heaving overboard mosr of her battery, proved fruid ess and rhe enemy quickly seized rhe opportuniry to rake rhe sh ip. They attacked w ith their gunboars from every quadrant where th e remaining America n guns could not reach and, reali z in g hi s unforrun a re po sirion , Bainbridge su rrendered his ship. His crew and officers were raken priso ner a nd, after being paraded rhrough the streers of Tripoli, humiliared by the
Burning of the Frigate Philadelphia in the Harbor ofTripoli, 16 February 1804
by Edward Moran (1829-1901) When First Lieutenant David Porter was being held in capriviry in Norrhern Africa, rhe Tripoliran corsairs refloared his ship, USS Philadelphia, recovered her guns from the seabed, and rowed her into rhe harbor. This, of course, led to the famous acrion in February of 1804 in which Srephen Decarur and a small crew sailed rhe caprured kerch Intrepid into rhe harbor and burned the American frigate to rhe warerline. The news of rhis heroic fear spread quickly, wi nning Decatur promorion to caprain and internarional fame. This and orher stories of the "H eroes of rhe Sailing Navy" can be fo und in pasr issues of Sea H istory (Nos. 110, 11 2, 11 4, and 116). For more informarion on William H . White's books, see the aurhor's biographical statement at the end of rhis arricle on page 20. NAVAL H !STORI CAL CENTER
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pop ulace and rheir guards, were marched to a section of the Bashaw's fortress which served as the prison. It would be their home for rhe nexr fifreen m onths. Lieuren ant Porrer hardly sar idle in captivity; he used the time they had and whatever books of a profess io nal nature he could find to reach the Philadelphia's midshipmen navigation, m athem atics, and comportmenr. Upon the conclusion of the Barbary Wa rs and his repatriation, Porter soon returned to the M edirerranean, this time in command of the schooner Enterprize. While his ass ignment was relatively dull, one might anticipate that with David Porter involved, something notable would occur. While Enterprize was in the port at Malta, a drunken British sa il or insulted several American officers. When the m an refu sed to apologi ze, Porter h ad him brought aboard Enterprize a nd flo gged. When the British commandant at Malta got wind of this inci dent, he refused to let Porter and his ship leave the h arbor. Porter paid the m an a visit. "S ir," he inquired, "are England and the United States at war?" Naturally, he received a response in the negarive. "Then , si r, Enterprize will sail as planned . Should the English ships or shore batteries fire on us, we will return fire until defeated, and rhen surrender, jusr as though we were at war." That night, as promised, Porter got underway, at quarters with every gun loaded and m anned, and sailed out of Malta H arbor. No shots were fired and time relegated the incident to a dusty corner of historical insignifica nce. Returning to the United States, Porter found himself once again involved in an historical event: th e co urt martial of] a mes Barron, late commander of the American frigate USS Chesapeake, which he had surrendered to a British ship off the Virginia Capes in 1807. Barron was fo und gui lty of "neglecring, on the probability of an engagement, to clear his ship for acrion" by a courr ma rtial board of such lu minaries as John Rodgers, Srephen D ecatur, Ja mes Lawrence, Wi lliam Bainbridge, and, of course, D av id Porter. Wh ile the court martial did lirde to adva nce Porter's career, it did give him the o pportunity to get to know these m en (he had already served
SEA HISTORY 129, WINTER2009-10