| OCR Text |
Show ""tSfTi'S ? '"" Imiimiiii.ii -ir-LUK IIUKJ.HO, I jOUB SAIIOKS IN 1803 8 'OECATUR'S GALLANT DEED IN I TRIPOLI HARBOR. lOcttructlon of the Frigate Philadelphia "" ' One of the Glorious Memories of the American. Navy Capt. Balnbrldge's Misfortune. Tho brenkmg up of tbo crulsor V Philadelphia bocauso tho cost of re pairing hor would represent too great porcontago of her valuo, and hor bo-' bo-' Ing fitted up for a receiving ship, ro- calls three othor vessels bearing tho tiamo of Philadelphia, which figured In tho history of tho country. Tho first, Iho III fated thlrty-Blx gun frlgato rhlladolphla, which was wrecked by running on a shoal off Tripoli, whllo chasing a corsair; tho second, a gon dola, under command of Capt. Grant, punk with others of Arnold's flcot In Lnko Oliatnplaln; tho third, a steamer taken Into tho ecrvlco of tho navy, and usod In a rcsurvoy of tho Potomac river at a tlino when Washington was almost cut off from communication with tho loyal north by lnnd or water. Tho wreck of tho frlgato Philadelphia during tho war with Tripoli opened, ono of tho brightest pages In American Ameri-can naval history. On Oct. 31, 1803, tho frlgato, Capt. Ilalnbridgo, stnrtod In pursuit of a corsair, trying to Bteal Into tho port of Tripoli. Tho corsair Bought tho shelter of tho roofs, with whoso openings hor commander was familiar, and Cnpt. Balnbridgo pursued, pur-sued, taking soundings as tho vessel bowled along. Suddenly tho water began be-gan to shoal, and tho vessol was at onco turned toward ho open soa, but uho was Insldo tho reef and struck upon It whllo going at the rata of eight I knots an hour. Every effort was made to back her, whllo tho enemy's gunboats gun-boats openod upon tho stranded ship; but tho tide ebbed, tho vessel keeled over, and nothing moro could be done, ' even for hor defense Tho magazine was flooded, tho pumps dlsablod, holes n were bored In the ship's bottom, and 1, Ihon Cnpt. Ilalnbridgo and his crew, In All 315 men, surrendered. Two days later a strong wind from tho north jillod up tho waters, and the Tripoli-tans Tripoli-tans succeeded In getting tho ship off tho reef, and, having patched her up : ft 11 Stephen Decatur. f, and recovered tho guns ind onchors IP that hud been tluown overheard, tho I Uashnw soon had tho Philadelphia, a If thirty-six gun frigate, added to his B navy, while hor ofllcers nnd men were j confined In filthy dungeons L Mr. N. C. Nlsscn, the Danish consul at Tripoli, bofi tended tho American prisoners nnd through his aid Capt. f- DalubrldGO was able to communicate Iv. I th tho American licet and suggested tho destruction of the Philadelphia as hIio luy at anchor In tho harbor. Stephen Decatur, Jr., then In command of tho Kntcrprlso, proposed to Capt. JJdward Preble that he should undertake under-take tho task. lie had a. rival In Lieut. Charles Stowart, but Decatur was chosen and begau preparation lor the dangerous task. He had captured u Trlpolltan ketch called tho Mnstltu, and It was determined that ho should cutor tho harbir In this vessel, which would oxclto less suspicion thnn un American rigged schooner I A picked crow of sIt-two men was put on board, together with a dmen ' young ofllcers, Including Decatur, who wur thon 24 jears old. nnd Midship- ' moil Ttiuinns MaDouough. 20 years old, I and .lames I.uwumkp n Wd o 1C On tho lGth of Pebraary. thu wlivl beljpluvrxablp, the Mastic o was hsad-bifflWlhe hsad-bifflWlhe harWnr, with the Slrun In at-tondaico at-tondaico ourHdo to holp rescue tho crow fat cue of need. Tao night was dear and starlit, and as the Mastlco antcrod tho harbor the Philadelphia Iy-? Iy-? - $& ., William Balnbrldge. r ' Ing at anchor uudor tho guns of the ' Sashaw's castlo could bo climb seen In ii the distance Decatur's plan wab to foul the Philadelphia at hot bow, where ;' tie vessel would not be oxposod to her runs, and to hoard her at once ai i0 o'clacl; tho Mastlco was chnllonged by p. sentinel on the frigate. Decatur ptood beside Salvatore Catalan?, tho pilot, and directed a Is movements. Bn. Tho pilot vjild that tha ketch had BBBBBBbbb , -. " " miiiiMii iw,iiii! Just arrlvod from Malta, and, hattm lost her anchors In tho rocont gale, df sired pormlsslon to make fast to th frlgato'a cablos. Whllo tho pilot kep up tho convorai-tlovi the Mastlco wat ncarlng tho ship's cables, but at I critical moment a light puff of all from tho souta t her shark, and she was soon exposed to the frlgato't broadside It was a trying moment but Decatur, with gToat coolness turned tho Mastlco for tho forechalns nnd sent out a boat with a hawsor tc mako fast The Turks also had sont out. a hawser, Intending to mako tho ketch fast to tho frigate's stern. Thl would have Interfered with Decatur's plans, and In tho end camo near to Richard Dale, preventing his oscapo. Tho Americans, Ameri-cans, howover, took tho hawsor from tho Trlpolltnns under tho pretenso that thoy would uso It as desired. In tho mcantlmo tho men ljlng down on tho deck wore pulling with a will at tho hawser loading to tho forechalns. While thoy wore still somo jards from their goal the enomy discovered that tho ketch had her anchors, and a man was sent to tho forochnlns to cut tho haw zor, nn Instant later tho men wore seen pulling nt tho hawser, and tho alarm wai given, "Aniorl-kanol "Aniorl-kanol Amcrlkanol" Thoro was no tlrao to bo lost; tho ship's crow wa3 In confusion, nnd bofore thoy could recover re-cover the Americans had boarded. Tho Turks fled In dismay as tho Amorlcnns swnrmed over tho sides or crawled through tho port holes, many of them Jumped overboard, somo wero drowned, nnd those who remained of-fored of-fored feeblo resistance. Tho work had boon carofully planned, and each ofll ccr set ubout his task at once. In tea nilnutos after Midshipman Morris reachod tho deck a rocket was sont up to notify tho Slion that the Philadelphia Philadel-phia had been captured. Combustibles wero passed up from tho kotch, and each boat's crow sot flro to tho part of the ship assigned to It. Tho ship was ablazo from stem to stern when Decatur ordered a return ' to tho Mastlco, and tho llttlo vessol had Bwung off clenr, when ho Jumped i Into her shrouds, being tho last man to , leave tho Philadelphia. Tho Mastlco got away from tho burning frigate in snfoty, but sho still had to pass the batteries along shoro and tho Tripoli-tan Tripoli-tan gunboats. The men took to the swoops and rowed for life In an effort to get out of rango. The Mastlco was a fair mark In tho lllumlnatod harbor, but tho Turks wero too much excltod to do any damage. Ono shot passed through her topgallant sail, but that v. as tho only hurt sho received. Tho Philadelphia was a mass o flames, Illuminating the harbor and th white walled city beyond; from time to tlmo her guns were discharged, and nt last tho flames having reached her maga7lnc, thoro was a terrific explosion, explo-sion, nnd tho Philadelphia disappeared forever. |
