Action of 1 August 1801

Action of 1 August 1801
Part of the First Barbary War
The schooner USS Enterprise opens up a broadside upon the polacca Tripoli at close quarters in the open sea, blowing debris off the ship in a cloud of splinters.
USS Enterprise fighting the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli.
William Bainbridge Hoff, 1878
Date1 August 1801
Location
between Tripoli (present day Libya) and Malta
Result American victory
Belligerents
 United States Eyalet of Tripolitania
Commanders and leaders
Andrew Sterett Rais Mahomet Rous[1]
Strength
1 schooner
90 men
1 polacca
80 men[2]
Casualties and losses
None 30 killed
30 wounded
1 polacca disabled

The action of 1 August 1801 was a single-ship action of the First Barbary War fought between the American schooner USS Enterprise and the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli off the coast of modern-day Libya.

As part of Commodore Richard Dale's Mediterranean Squadron, Enterprise had been deployed with the American force blockading the Vilayet of Tripoli. Enterprise, under the command of Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, had been sent by Commodore Dale to gather supplies at Malta. While cruising towards Malta, Enterprise engaged Tripoli, commanded by Admiral Rais Mahomet Rous. Tripoli put up a stubborn fight and perfidiously feigned surrender three times in an engagement lasting three hours before the polacca was finally captured by the Americans.

Although the Americans had taken the vessel, Sterett had no orders to take prizes and so was obliged to release her. Enterprise completed her journey to Malta, and received honor and praise from the squadron's Commodore on her return to the fleet. The success of the battle boosted morale in the United States, since it was that country's first victory in the war against the Tripolitans. The opposite occurred in Tripoli, where morale sank heavily upon learning of Tripoli's defeat. Despite Enterprise's triumph, the war continued indecisively for another four years.

  1. ^ Whipple 1991, p. 79.
  2. ^ Allen 1905, p. 95