<P> The schooner Enterprise (commanded by Lieutenant Andrew Sterret) defeated the 14 - gun Tripolitan corsair Tripoli after a one - sided battle on 1 August 1801 . </P> <P> In 1802, in response to Jefferson's request for authority to deal with the pirates, Congress passed "An act for the protection of commerce and seamen of the United States against the Tripolitan cruisers", authorizing the President to "...employ such of the armed vessels of the United States as may be judged requisite...for protecting effectually the commerce and seamen thereof on the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and adjoining seas ." "The statute authorized American ships to seize vessels belonging to the Bey of Tripoli, with the captured property distributed to those who brought the vessels into port ." </P> <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, its 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>

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