Decatur, Stephen
Decatur, Stephen (1779–1820), U.S. naval officer.Raised in a seafaring and naval family, Stephen Decatur served as midshipman and acting lieutenant during the Undeclared Naval War with France (1798–1800) and as a first lieutenant and captain during the Tripolitan War (1801–05). In 1804, he commanded the party that burned the USS Philadelphia, which had fallen into enemy hands; then he led attacks on several Tripolitan vessels. Decatur's exploits, which entailed fierce hand‐to‐hand combat, won him great acclaim. After the Tripolitan War, he helped enforce the embargo. During the War of 1812 he took part in two notable engagements: the celebrated victory of USS United States over HMS Macedonian in 1812, and the 1815 surrender of USS President to a British squadron. He commanded the flagship Guerrière in the Algerine War (1815),...
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