On February 16, 1804, the U.S. Navy conducted a stunningly audacious raid to deny the enemy the use of an American warship by concocting a ruse that allowed American sailors into the jaws of the enemy harbor to sink a captured American frigate. The American Navy managed to sink the captured ship and escape under heavy gunfire, a heroic and successful raid marking a high point in the bravery and cunning of the U.S. Navy.
Digging Deeper
The United States had been having troubles with pirates along the Barbary Coast (modern Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) resulting in the need for the U.S. Navy to protect American interests in the Mediterranean Sea, a conflict called The First Barbary War (1801-1805). The USS Philadelphia was part of that effort, a sailing ship called a frigate, a medium sized ship (157 feet long by 39 feet wide), though heavily armed with 28 X 18 pounder guns (muzzle loading cannon that fired an 18 pound iron cannon ball) and an additional 16 X 32 pounder carronades (close range heavy ship killing weapons). Philadelphia was manned by a crew of 307 officers and men.
