Against Cold Steel Author:Edwin P. Hoyt "Stephen Decatur in Tripoli — When Stephen Decatur received his commission to captain after the firing of the 'Philadelphia', he had little time to bask in his glories. For the spring of 1804 saw the bloody continuation of the Tripolitan Wars, and the bashaw of Tripoli was not about to stop his hideous practice of Mediterranean piracy an forced t... more »ributes without a battle.
And battle was precisely what the U.S.Navy had in store for him. Before the merciless summer sun surrendred to an arid Barbary autumn, Captain Stephen Decatur would lead one of the most brilliant gunboat attacks ever logged in the rugged annals of naval history.
During the spring and summer of 1804 Decatur waged a one-man battle against sabotage and thievery to set up that gunboat attack agains Tripoli."« less