Action of 1 August 1801

Action of 1 August 1801
Part of First Barbary War
USS Enterprise fighting the pirate ship Tripoli.
Date 1 August 1801 Location between Tripoli (present day Libya) and Malta Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Ottoman vilayet of Tripoli
Commanders and leaders
Andrew Sterett	Rais Mahomet Rous
Strength
schooner USS Enterprise 90 men	polacre Tripoli 80 men
Casualties and losses
none	Tripoli disabled 30 killed 30 wounded

USS Enterprise pursuing Tripoli

The Action of 1 August 1801 was a naval battle of the First Barbary War fought between the American schooner USS Enterprise and the Tripolitan polacre Tripoli off the coast of modern day Libya. The Enterprise, under the command of Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, had been sent by Commodore Richard Dale of the United States' Mediterranean Squadron to gather supplies at Malta. While cruising towards Malta, the Enterprise engaged the corsair Tripoli, commanded by Admiral Rais Mahomet Rous. The Tripoli put up a stubborn fight, and the engagement lasted for three hours before the Tripolitan corsair was finally captured by the Americans.

Although the Americans had taken the vessel, Sterett had no orders to take prizes and so was obliged to release her. Enterprise completed her journey to Malta, returning with honor and praise from the squadrons' Commodore. The battle greatly boosted morale in the United States, as the country's first victory in the war against the Tripolitans. The opposite occurred in Tripoli, with morale sinking heavily upon learning of the Tripoli's defeat. Despite Enterprise's triumph, the war continued indecisively for another four years.

Background

As part of the American strategy during the First Barbary War, an American squadron under Commodore Richard Dale was dispatched to blockade Tripoli and force them into accepting peace. In July 1801, Dale's force blockading the port of Tripoli had begun to run low on water. In order to replenish his supplies, Dale dispatched the schooner USS Enterprise under Lieutenant Andrew Sterett to provision at the British possession of Malta, while the commodore himself remained off Tripoli with the frigate USS President to blockade the harbor there. Soon after leaving the blockade, Enterprise came along what appeared to be a Tripolitian corsair cruising near her. Flying British colors as a ruse, the Enterprise was able to approach close to her and hail her as to her. The Tripolitan ship replied that she was seeking American vessels. At this the Enterprise struck the British colors, raised the American flag, and prepared for action.

The Tripolitan vessel, the Tripoli, and the USS Enterprise were quite evenly matched. Enterprise, with a complement of 90 commanded by Andrew Sterett, was a twelve gun, 135 ton schooner built in 1799 that had seen action in the Quasi War. In contrast the Tripoli, a lateen-rigged polacre with two masts, was crewed by 80 men under Admiral Rais Mahomet Rous and armed with fourteen guns. Although the Tripolitans held a slight advantage in firepower, Enterprise the advantage of a larger complement at the start of the action.

Battle

Shortly after Sterett had the American colors raised, he had his men open fire upon the Tripolitans at close range with muskets. In response the Tripoli returned fire with a ineffective broadside. The Americans returned fire with their own broadsides, which led the Rous to break off the engagement and attempt to flee. Neither able to fight off the American vessel nor outrun her, the Tripolitans attempted to grapple the Enterprise and board her. Upon sailing within musket range, the Enterprise's marines opened fire upon the Tripoli, foiled its attempt at boarding, and forced the Tripoli to try to break away once more. The Enterprise continued the engagement, firing more broadsides into the Tripolitan and blasting a hole in her hull.

Severely damaged, the Tripoli struck her colors. As Enterprise moved towards the vessel to accept its surrender, the Tripolitans re-raised the flag and fired upon the Enterprise. The Tripolitans again attempted to board the American schooner, but were repelled by Enterprise's broadsides and musketry. After another exchange of fire, the Tripolitans struck their colors a second time. Sterett once more ceased firing and moved closer to the Tripoli. In response, Rous again raised his colors and attempted to board Enterprise. The Enterprise's accurate gunnery forced the Tripoli to veer off. As the action continued, Rous perfidiously feigned a third surrender to draw the American schooner into grappling range. This time, Sterett kept his distance while ordering the Enterprise's gun deflection to be lowered; such a tactic would sink the corsair. The next American broadsides struck the Tripoli at the waterline, causing massive damage and reducing her to a sinking condition. With most of his crew dead or wounded, the injured Admiral Rous finally threw the Tripolitian flag into the sea to convince Sterett to end the action.

Aftermath

At the end of the action the Tripoli was severely damaged and 30 of her crew dead and another 30 injured. The corsair’s first lieutenant was among the casualties and Admiral Rous himself had been injured in the fighting. In what amounted to a total American victory over the Tripolitans, the Enterprise had suffered only superficial damage and no casualties. His orders did not give him the authority to retain prizes and Sterett let the corsair limp back to Tripoli. Before setting it free, however, the Americans cut down the Tripoli’s masts and sufficiently disabled her so that she could barely make sail at all. Sterett continued his journey to Malta and picked the supplies he was sent for before returning to the blockade.

After the Enterprise left, the Tripoli began its journey back to the port of Tripoli. On the way it ran into the USS President and asked it for assistance: Rous claiming mendaciously that his vessel was Tunisian and that it had been damaged in an engagement with a French 22 gun vessel. Dale suspected the vessel's true identity and merely provided Rous with a compass so he could find his way back to port. Upon returning to Tripoli, Rous was severely chastised by the Dey. Stripped of his command, he was paraded through the streets draped in sheep's entrails while seated backwards on a jackass before suffering 500 bastinadoes.

The Enterprise's victory over Tripoli had very different consequences for each of the two nations involved. In Tripoli, the defeat combined with severity of the punishment given by the Dey to Admiral Rous had negative effects on the morale of the people of the city to the point where crews could not be mustered to man outfit Tripolitian ships. In the United States the exact opposite occurred, with wild publicity surrounding the arrival of news that the Americans had won their first victory over the Tripolitans. The American government gave a bonus month's pay to each of the Enterprises's crew members, and honored Sterret by granting him a sword and calling for his promotion. Fanciful plays were written about the victorious Americans, and morale and enthusiasm about the war reached a high point. Despite the American victory over the Tripolitans, the Dey was no closer to accepting the American terms and the war continued on.

References

• Abbot, Willis (1886). The naval history of the United States. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Boot, Max (2002). The savage wars of peace: small wars and the rise of American power. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465007201. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Dobbs, John (2005). From Bunker Hill to Manila Bay. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1417937041. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2002). The Wars of the Barbary Pirates. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1846030307. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Smethurst, David (2006). Tripoli: The United States' First War on Terror. New York: Presidio Press. ISBN 9780891418597. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Wheelan, Joseph (2003). Jefferson's war: America's first war on terror, 1801-1805. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0786712325. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Whipple, Addison (1991). To the Shores of Tripoli. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557509662. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)