Bainbridge and the Pirates

I suppose it's too much to expect the media to pick up on the connection between the USS Bainbridge and the history of the US vis a vis Africa-based pirates. Here's the story:

Commodore William Bainbridge (after whom the ship is named) was born in 1774 and went into the US Navy (such as it was) in 1798. In those days the main overseas irritation the US suffered, apart from having her seamen impressed (that is, stolen) by the Royal Navy (after all, everyone was impressed, in the modern sense, by the Royal Navy in those days), was this pesky group of pirates operating in the Mediterranean out of the area that is now roughly Libya, under the auspices of the Pasha of Tripoli (some things never change), and taking over US merchant ships.

To avenge this affront to US sovereignty, not to mention to its commerce, the Jefferson Adminstration sent Commodore Preble to do whatever he had to to stop the piracy. Serving under Preble (there's a town near Syracuse, NY, named after him) was Commandant Bainbridge in command of new frigate USS Philadelphia, at 36 guns one of the most powerful ships in the US Navy, and whose original captain had been Mr Preble. US ships, incidentally, were more powerful than their British "equivalents" due to the genius of Joshua and Samuel Humphreys, but we won't get into that here.

This was a ship intended for combat on the open sea, so operating in Tripoli Harbor was a challenge and Bainbridge, while chasing a small Tripolitan galley, managed to run the thing aground on a sand bar. When the Tripolitans surrounded the helpless ship, Bainbridge surrendered her rather than having his crew of 307 killed, or worse. So they were imprisoned.

The Tripolitans managed to re-float the Philadelphia, which alone would have more than doubled their naval strength. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur was then sent over from the US with a small fleet and, with the able assistance of Marine Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon commanding 7 Marines and a bunch of Mameluks, who made the overland march from Alexandria, burned the Philadelphia to the waterline, freed the prisoners, and humbled the Pasha. This is where "to the shores of Tripoli" comes from in the Marine Hymn -- we can talk about the "Halls of Montezuma" some other time. That's O'Bannon on the left, Decatur on the right.

Once Bainbridge's reputation was rehabilitated, he was given command of USS Constitution and was in command during her famous victory over HMS Java during the War of 1812. This was his greatest achievement and probably accounts for his having the current USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) named after him.