jjares reviewed Stephen Decatur: The Life and Legacy of the Youngest Navy Captain in American History on + 3263 more book reviews
This is an informative and interesting book about a famous naval officer in American history. Before reading this, I was not aware he was the youngest naval captain in our history. Decatur was incredibly brave and had innovative ideas about how to wage war on the high seas.
Stephen Decatur's most famous action came in 1804 in Tripoli. He was the lieutenant of the Intrepid and took 75 sailors to either rescue or sink the captured frigate Philadelphia in the Tripoli harbor. The Philadelphia had been surrendered by her commanding officer when she ran aground on a reef off the Tripoli harbor. The captain and crew were taken captive and the enemy was planning on plundering the remaining ship.
Decatur and his crew tricked the enemy by acting like a British ship that had lost its anchor in a storm. They requested to be allowed to park next to the Philadelphia until morning. When Decatur saw that they could not rescue the ship, they set her to explode.
During action in Tripoli, Stephen's brother, James, was mortally wounded. Finding that James was wounded after he had surrendered; Stephen went to fight the cowardly Tripoli commander. During the hand-to-hand fighting, another Tripolian sailor swung his saber at Stephen. Ruben James stepped between Decatur and the saber, taking a blow to the head. He did not die and later continued in the Navy. This is the source of the famous song, "Reuben James."
Son of a commodore, Stephen flew the pennant of a commodore during the War of 1812. Generally, the War of 1812 was over America's rights to the seas. British captains were boarding American vessels and commandeering 'British subjects and sailors' off American property. Shockingly, the British controlled Lake Erie at the time of the war.
There was bad blood between Decatur and another officer in 1807, off the coast of Virginia. James Barron, commander of the Chesapeake surrendered his frigate to the British crew of the HMS Leopard. The British boarded and removed 4 sailors. They were tried for desertion of the Royal Navy and one was hanged. The Chesapeake was severely damaged but released. Criticism came to Barron because he only fired one shot. He was suspended from the service for 5 years. This is considered to be one of the reasons for the War of 1812.
Barron challenged Decatur to a duel and killed Decatur on March 22, 1820, in Washington, DC. The information about dueling in general (during this era) and this duel, in particular, is fascinating and should not be missed.
Stephen Decatur's most famous action came in 1804 in Tripoli. He was the lieutenant of the Intrepid and took 75 sailors to either rescue or sink the captured frigate Philadelphia in the Tripoli harbor. The Philadelphia had been surrendered by her commanding officer when she ran aground on a reef off the Tripoli harbor. The captain and crew were taken captive and the enemy was planning on plundering the remaining ship.
Decatur and his crew tricked the enemy by acting like a British ship that had lost its anchor in a storm. They requested to be allowed to park next to the Philadelphia until morning. When Decatur saw that they could not rescue the ship, they set her to explode.
During action in Tripoli, Stephen's brother, James, was mortally wounded. Finding that James was wounded after he had surrendered; Stephen went to fight the cowardly Tripoli commander. During the hand-to-hand fighting, another Tripolian sailor swung his saber at Stephen. Ruben James stepped between Decatur and the saber, taking a blow to the head. He did not die and later continued in the Navy. This is the source of the famous song, "Reuben James."
Son of a commodore, Stephen flew the pennant of a commodore during the War of 1812. Generally, the War of 1812 was over America's rights to the seas. British captains were boarding American vessels and commandeering 'British subjects and sailors' off American property. Shockingly, the British controlled Lake Erie at the time of the war.
There was bad blood between Decatur and another officer in 1807, off the coast of Virginia. James Barron, commander of the Chesapeake surrendered his frigate to the British crew of the HMS Leopard. The British boarded and removed 4 sailors. They were tried for desertion of the Royal Navy and one was hanged. The Chesapeake was severely damaged but released. Criticism came to Barron because he only fired one shot. He was suspended from the service for 5 years. This is considered to be one of the reasons for the War of 1812.
Barron challenged Decatur to a duel and killed Decatur on March 22, 1820, in Washington, DC. The information about dueling in general (during this era) and this duel, in particular, is fascinating and should not be missed.
