<P> The U.S Navy went unchallenged on the sea, but still the question remained undecided . Jefferson pressed the issue the following year, with an increase in military force and deployment of many of the navy's best ships to the region throughout 1802 . Argus, Chesapeake, Constellation, Constitution, Enterprise, Intrepid, Philadelphia and Syren all saw service during the war under the overall command of Preble . Throughout 1803, Preble set up and maintained a blockade of the Barbary ports and executed a campaign of raids and attacks against the cities' fleets . </P> <P> In October 1803, Tripoli's fleet captured USS Philadelphia intact after the frigate ran aground on a reef while patrolling Tripoli harbor . Efforts by the Americans to float the ship while under fire from shore batteries and Tripolitan Naval units failed . The ship, her captain, William Bainbridge, and all officers and crew were taken ashore and held as hostages . Philadelphia was turned against the Americans and anchored in the harbor as a gun battery . </P> <P> On the night of 16 February 1804, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a small detachment of U.S. Marines aboard the captured Tripolitan ketch rechristened USS Intrepid, thus deceiving the guards on Philadelphia to float close enough to board her . Decatur's men stormed the ship and overpowered the Tripolitan sailors . With fire support from the American warships, the Marines set fire to Philadelphia, denying her use by the enemy . </P> <P> Preble attacked Tripoli on 14 July 1804, in a series of inconclusive battles, including a courageous but unsuccessful attack attempting to use Intrepid under Captain Richard Somers as a fire ship, packed with explosives and sent to enter Tripoli harbor, where she would destroy herself and the enemy fleet . However, Intrepid was destroyed, possibly by enemy gunfire, before she achieved her goal, killing Somers and his entire crew . </P>

In the war with tripoli the u.s. lost which major warship