Barbary Pirates Déja Vu All Over Again
History will tell us that the treaty signed in June 1805 with Dey Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli turned out to be more of a truce rather than a treaty. The United States paid both tribute and a ransom of $60,000 (~$1,262,244 in September 2025) for the return of all Christian prisoners, ships, and cargos. In addition, Dey Karamanli agreed not to seize any more U.S. ships. The U.S. negotiator – Tobias Lear – would say that the war was over, but the reality was far different.
By 1807, the Tripolitans but also the Algerians were again seizing U.S. ships. Jefferson ignored the problem because he had bigger problems, i.e., the U.K.’s trade policies and the Royal Navy’s practice of impressing seamen in ever-increasing numbers.
Jefferson, tried to turn the U.S. Navy into a gunboat-based defense force rather than what is known as a blue water navy. Other than the small number of frigates that made it to sea, Jefferson’s gunboats failed to protect U.S. harbors and led to the burning of Washington and the British attack on Baltimore.
Once the war of 1812 was over, Madison now had a battle-tested Navy that had won battles on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario as well as many frigate duels. Many of those Navy commanders who had been junior officers during the First Barbary Pirate War were now senior officers and well-versed in what was needed to deal with the Algerians.
On March 3rd, 1815, Congress authorized President Madison to send two squadrons to the Mediterranean to deal with the Algerians. War was not declared.
Stephen Decatur’s squadron had Constellation, Macedonian (captured by Constellation from the British during the War of 1812), Guerriere (new construction 54-gun heavy frigate and named after the ship captured by Constitution), and seven other smaller ships. Decatur flew his flag on Guerriere and his squadron left New York on May 20th, 1815. Shortly thereafter, William Bainbridge left the U.S. flying his flag on Independence, a 74-gun third-rated ship of the line and 17 other ships.
Off Cape Gata near Almeria, Spain, Constellation and the sloop-of-war Ontario, eighteen 32-pounder carronades engaged the Algerian flagship Mashouda, 44 guns which was trying to run from the American squadron. In the engagement, Algerian Admiral Raïs Hamadou was killed when Guerriere fired a broadside into his damaged ship causing the Algerians to haul down their flag. Mashouda was escorted to Cartagena, Spain by Macedonian.
On June 19th, Decatur’s squadron captured the Algerian brig Estedio of Cape Palos, Spain. It too was taken to Cartagena.
Decatur then sailed into the port of Algiers to meet with the Dey of Algiers who agreed to a treaty that returned all captured U.S. vessels and sailors and committed to no longer demand tribute or seize American ships in return for U.S. $10,000 in gold (~$210,374 in September 2025).
One would have thought that matters ended there, but they didn’t. Now not having to deal with Napoleon, the British sent a squadron under Vice Admiral Edward Pellew to the Mediterranean to convince the Dey of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli not to seize British ships. Pellew thought, after difficult negotiations that resulted in a treaties with all three, that he’d accomplished his mission.
Unfortunately, after the treaty was signed, the Algerians massacred 200 Corsican, Sicilian, and Sardinian fishermen they had as prisoners. Pellew returned in August 1816 and pounded the city of Algiers. His gunfire destroyed the Dey of Algiers’ fortifications and his remaining ships. In September 1816, the Dey again agreed to the original terms. The remaining 1,083 slaves held by the Algerians were freed, and the U.S. got its $10,000 back.
There are several important facts to note from this Second Barbary Pirate War. First, Congress authorized Madison to use military force without a declaration of war.
Second, as it did in the First Barbary Pirate War, the U.S. Navy had again proved that it could successfully conduct expeditionary warfare far from U.S. shores.
Third, the Second Barbary Pirate War led to a “permanent” squadron of ships patrolling the Mediterranean that has been deployed there ever since.
Warren painting of the capture of the Algerian frigate Mashouda courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command.
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