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N0KFQ > TODAY 16.02.16 19:02l 51 Lines 2136 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 84836_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Feb 16
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Sent: 160216/1534Z 84836@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1804
The most daring act of the age
During the First Barbary War, U.S. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur
leads a military mission that famed British Admiral Horatio
Nelson calls the "most daring act of the age."
In June 1801, President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy
vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids
against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states-Morocco,
Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. American sailors were often
abducted along with the captured booty and ransomed back to the
United States at an exorbitant price. After two years of minor
confrontations, sustained action began in June 1803 when a small
U.S. expeditionary force attacked Tripoli harbor in present-day
Libya.
In October 1803, the U.S. frigate Philadelphia ran aground near
Tripoli and was captured by Tripolitan gunboats. The Americans
feared that the well-constructed warship would be both a
formidable addition to the Tripolitan navy and an innovative
model for building future Tripolitan frigates. Hoping to prevent
the Barbary pirates from gaining this military advantage,
Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a daring expedition into Tripoli
harbor to destroy the captured American vessel on February 16,
1804.
After disguising himself and his men as Maltese sailors,
Decatur's force of 74 men, which included nine U.S. Marines,
sailed into Tripoli harbor on a small two-mast ship. The
Americans approached the USS Philadelphia without drawing fire
from the Tripoli shore guns, boarded the ship, and attacked its
Tripolitan crew, capturing or killing all but two. After setting
fire to the frigate, Decatur and his men escaped without the loss
of a single American. The Philadelphia subsequently exploded when
its gunpowder reserve was lit by the spreading fire.
Six months later, Decatur returned to Tripoli Harbor as part of a
larger American offensive and emerged as a hero again during the
so-called "Battle of the Gunboats," a naval battle that saw
hand-to-hand combat between the Americans and the Tripolitans.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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