Decatur's Bold and Daring Act
The Philadelphia in Tripoli 1804 (Raid)
By MARK LARDAS
Osprey Publishing, (2011). 80 pages
فيلادلفيا في طرابلس 1804
On a dark night in 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur and a team of hand-picked men, slipped into Tripoli harbor in a small boat. Their target was the USS Philadelphia. Captured by the Barbary pirates four months previously, the Philadelphia had been refitted to fight against her former masters. Decatur's mission was to either recapture the ship, or failing that, burn her to the waterline. This book recounts one of the greatest raids in American military history, an event that propelled Stephen Decatur to international renown, and which prompted Horatio Nelson to declare it 'the most bold and daring act of the age'.
INTRODUCTION
For the US Navy frigate Philadelphia, October 31, 1803, began as another routine day off Tripoli harbor, on the North African coast in what today is Libya. The United States, at war with Tripoli since 1801, had sent squadrons annually to protect its Mediterranean shipping and blockade the city-state. Philadelphia, commanded by Captain William Bainbridge, was part of the 1803–04 squadron led by Commodore Edwin Preble.
The ship was one of five “subscription” frigates built for the Quasi-War with France, which was fought between 1789 and 1800. These vessels had been paid for by citizens of the cities in which they were constructed.
Philadelphia, built in its namesake city, was the largest of the five, 157ft long and 39ft wide, and displacing 1,240 tons. Rated at 44 guns, in 1804 it carried a battery of 28 18-pdr long guns and 16 32-pdr carronades. In point of fact, Philadelphia was smaller than the US Navy’s first 44-gun frigates, including the other 44-gun frigate in that year’s squadron, Constitution. This vessel was 175ft long, displaced 1,576 tons, and carried a main battery of 24-pdr long guns. Regardless, Philadelphia was larger than most European frigates, and on a par in both size and broadside with European frigates rated at 44 guns. It was a formidable warship.
As with Constitution, Philadelphia’s size and power allowed it to command the seas once away from the coast, but it was out of place in shallow waters. (Philadelphia’s draft was 20ft 6in aft, 18ft at the bow.) For blockade duties, Commodore Preble usually paired his frigates with a lighter warship from his squadron. The shallow-draft craft worked inshore, while the large frigate stood offshore, serving as big brother, protecting the smaller ship from Tripolitan warships if necessary. When Preble dispatched Philadelphia to Tripoli, the frigate was accompanied by the 14-gun schooner Vixen.
The two warships arrived at Tripoli on October 7, 1803, with orders to remain until November. Nearly two weeks later, on October 19, Bainbridge learned that two Tripolitan warships were already at sea, so he had dispatched Vixen to search for them. On October 31, Philadelphia was quite alone.
At 9:00am Philadelphia’s lookouts spotted two vessels approaching harbor. Bainbridge gave chase. Unable to draw within gunshot before the ships reached the approaches to the harbor, Bainbridge sailed in after them. American charts indicated that portion of Tripoli harbor had a depth of 40–60ft. Aware of the ship’s draft and mistrusting the charts, Bainbridge’s first lieutenant, David Porter, had three men at the bow, taking soundings using a lead line – a weighted line, marked with pieces of cloth tied at set intervals along the line – to measure depth.
Porter’s concern was well founded. An unmarked shoal cut across Philadelphia’s path. The shoal lay deep – 15ft below the water’s surface – but while that allowed shallow-draft craft to pass unmolested, it was much shallower than Philadelphia’s draft. It also rose abruptly. At 11:00am Philadelphia, cruising at 8 knots, sailed into these shoal waters. Before the leadsmen could give warning, Philadelphia moved across a submerged sand spit.
Momentum carried the ship onto the shoal. Bainbridge attempted to plow the ship forward, but this did not work. Instead, Philadelphia ran hard aground. Yet the stern of the ship was still afloat. If Bainbridge could lighten the ship forward, he could back the ship off the reef. This could be done by using a ship’s boat to take one of Philadelphia’s anchors aft, and use the ship’s capstan to winch the vessel back to the anchor. Under normal conditions, this procedure took routine seamanship, and both officers and crew were up to that challenge.
Conditions were anything but routine, however. Philadelphia was in the middle of a hostile harbor in broad daylight. It was within range of shore guns. The frigate was heeled over, obviously stuck. A Tripolitan response would soon begin, so Bainbridge and his men set to with a will, attempting to free the frigate. First to go overboard was the ship’s fresh water. Consumable stores, such as food and spirits, soon joined other stores over the side. The anchors were cut away, except for one, to be used to pull the ship off the shoal. It was shifted aft, as were the ship’s guns. Yet the bow stubbornly remained fixed in the sandbar. The guns soon followed most of the anchors. A few were kept to defend the ship from Tripolitan gunboats, but most went over the side.
By now it was afternoon. Initial Arab response had been desultory, but soon gunboats began approaching Philadelphia, like sharks circling a beached whale. While they kept their distance, they prevented Bainbridge from employing boats to kedge Philadelphia off the sandbar. In desperation, Bainbridge ordered the foremast cut away. This failed to free the ship.
The gunboats had not yet attempted to board Philadelphia. Instead, they rowed so that they were off Philadelphia’s high starboard side, making it impossible for the American cannon to fire at them – the heel of the frigate’s deck prevented their use. Bainbridge faced the destruction of his ship and crew and could not strike back. It was 4:00pm. The crew was exhausted by five hours of unremitting labor. Bainbridge ordered the ship scuttled. At sunset, he surrendered his frigate.
Bainbridge and the 300-plus officers and men of its crew passed into the hands of the Bashaw of Tripoli. They would serve as hostages for the rest of the war. Worse, from the perspective of the American squadron fighting Tripoli, was that the sandbar that trapped Philadelphia also prevented the ship from being successfully scuttled. The Arabs were able to plug the holes made by Philadelphia’s carpenter, and refloat the frigate. Its jettisoned guns, on the shallow sea bottom near the ship, were also soon recovered.
America’s enemies were now in possession of one of the most powerful frigates in the world. If Tripoli took their prize to sea, Philadelphia could easily defeat six of the seven remaining warships in Preble’s squadron. Only Constitution could match it. Preble had to retake or destroy Philadelphia before it could be refitted. The ship’s capture that late October day put in train a series of events that would reach a climax in February 1804. The raid to destroy Philadelphia was a feat that Horatio Nelson, one of Britain’s boldest naval commanders, would characterize as “most bold and daring act of the age.”.
GLOSSARY
Beating: Sailing with the wind ahead of the ship. Most square-rigged ships could tack no closer than 67 degrees from the direction the wind was blowing, by hauling their yards as far forward as possible. Fore-and-aft rigs could sail closer to the wind, but reaching a position dead to windward required a ship to follow a zig-zag course.
Berth deck: The deck below the gun deck on an American frigate, where the crew sleeps.
Bowsprit: A spar projecting forward from the bow of the ship, to which the stays on the lower sections of the foremast attach.
Brig: A two-masted square-rigged ship with a foremast and mainmast, where the aftermost mast is larger than the foremast.
Broadside: All of the guns on one side of a ship. Firing a broadside involves firing all of those guns either together or at closely spaced intervals.
Carronade: A short-barreled smoothbore gun, mounted on a slide rather than a carriage.
Course: The lowest square sail on a mast, hung from a spar set on the lower mast.
Fore-and-aft sails: Triangular and trapezoidal sails that were rigged parallel to the length of the ship. The sails set on the stays that supported the masts were called staysails or jibsails (if they were on the jib stays). The sail set on a gaff and boom attached behind the mizzenmast was called the gaff, spanker, or spencer sail, depending on the navy, period, and rig. Fore-andaft sails were used to help steer the ship, and when beating into the wind.
Forecastle: A raised platform at the front of the ship generally used to manage the anchors and foremast and to provide protection from a head sea.
Foremast: On a full-rigged ship, or a brig, the foremost mast.
Foremast: On a full-rigged ship, or a brig, the foremost mast.
Frigate: A sailing warship with one full gun deck and additional guns mounted on the forecastle and quarterdeck. A warship with a full gun deck and additional guns only mounted on the quarterdeck is sometimes called a jackass frigate.
Frigate: A sailing warship with one full gun deck and additional guns mounted on the forecastle and quarterdeck. A warship with a full gun deck and additional guns only mounted on the quarterdeck is sometimes called a jackass frigate.
Jib boom: A pole or spar extending from the bowsprit.
Jib sails: Triangular sails hung from stays running from the upper foremasts to the jib boom. Used to help steer the ship.
Ketch: A two-masted square-rigged ship with a mainmast and mizzenmast. Larboard: The left side of the ship, when looking forward. Now called port.
Leeward: The side opposite to the direction of the wind.
Mainmast: Generally the mast closest to the center of the ship. Generally it is also the largest mast.
Mizzenmast: The aftermost mast on a ship with two or three masts when it is the smallest mast. (If the after mast is larger – as on a brig – the after mast is the mainmast.)
Orlop: A set of platforms below the berth deck, but above the bottom of the ship, used to carry supplies and house personnel (generally warrant officers).
Platform: A partial deck on a ship.
Polacre: A three-masted Mediterranean ship, generally with a fine hull and three square-rigged pole masts.
Quarterdeck: A partial deck above the main or gun deck where the navigation and operation of the ship is managed. Generally the quarterdeck starts between the mainmast and the
mizzenmast. Running: Sailing with the wind directly behind you. It is the easiest way to sail a square-rigged ship, but slower than broad reaching, because the after sails obscure sails mounted on masts ahead of them.
Ship-of-the-line: A ship-rigged warship strong enough to stand in the line of battle, with at least two full gun decks and additional guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle
.
Ships-of-the-line mounted 64 to 140 guns. Ship-rigged: A ship with at least three masts, all carrying square sails, is said to be ship-rigged.
Shroud: A line running from the sides of the ship to the top of the lower mast, or from the mast top platform or crosstrees to the top of the section of the mast. Used to guy the mast.
Sloop-of-war: A warship with guns mounted only on the gun deck. Threemasted sloops-of-war are often called ship-sloops, and two-masted sloops-of-war are often called brig-sloops. Occasionally a sloop-of-war has additional guns mounted on the quarterdeck. These are also referred to as “post” ships or jackass frigates.
Sloop-of-war: A warship with guns mounted only on the gun deck. Threemasted sloops-of-war are often called ship-sloops, and two-masted sloops-of-war are often called brig-sloops. Occasionally a sloop-of-war has additional guns mounted on the quarterdeck. These are also referred to as “post” ships or jackass frigates.
Spanker, spencer, or mizzen gaffsail: A trapezoidal sail mounted aft of the mizzenmast, used to help handle the ship.
Spankers and spencers have booms holding the bottom of the sail. Gaffsails often do not. These are called “loosefooted” gaffs.
Spar deck: A flush deck on an American frigate consisting of the forecastle, quarterdeck, and the gangways connecting the two. Generally there is an opening amidships spanned by skids on which the spare spars and ship’s boats are kept.
Squaresail: Four-sided sails, occasionally square but more often trapezoidal, set on spars and perpendicular to the length of the ship. American frigates generally mounted five, and sometimes six, sails on their masts. From lowest to highest were the course, topsail, topgallant, royal, skysail, and moonsail or hope-in-heaven. (The name of the sixth sail varied widely.)
Starboard: The right side of the ship when looking forward.
Stay: A line running from the top of a mast segment to either the side of the ship or forward to the next mast ahead or the bowsprit and jib boom. The stays that run forward are called stays. The ones running to the sides of the ship behind the mast to which it is attached are called backstays.
Tack: (In reference to a maneuver.) To tack a ship is to turn it into the wind such that the bow of the ship moves across the direction from which the wind is blowing.
Tack: (In reference to a course being steered.) A ship is said to be on a starboard tack if the wind is coming from the right side of ship. It is on a larboard (or port) if the wind is coming from the left side of the ship.
Topgallant sail: The sail above the topsail. During this period it was carried on a separate mast, called a topgallant mast, attached to the top of the topmast.
Topsail: The sail on a mast above the course. During this period, it was carried on its own section of mast, called the topmast
Two-decker: A ship-rigged warship with two full gun-decks and additional guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle that is too weak to stand in the lineof-battle. These 44–56-gun warships are miniature ships-of-the-line useful for convoy duty and flagships. They are often confused with frigates because they mount a similar number of guns.
Wear: To turn the ship away from the direction the wind is blowing. This puts less strain on the masts and rigging than tacking (turning into the direction of the wind).
Now generally called gybing or jibing.
Xebec: A fine-hulled Mediterranean ship, related to a galley. It typically has three lateen-rigged masts, and is capable of moving under sail or oar.
Xebec: A fine-hulled Mediterranean ship, related to a galley. It typically has three lateen-rigged masts, and is capable of moving under sail or oar.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق