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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Intrepid (I)

Ketch:
  • Built in France in 1798 for Napoleon's Egyptian expedition.
  • Subsequently sold to Tripoli, rename Mastico
  • Participated in the capture USF Philadelphia, 31 October 1803, after the frigate had run fast aground off Tripoli.
  • Captured by USS Enterprise, LT. Stephen Decatur in command, 23 December 1803
  • Taken as a prize and commissioned into the US Navy as USS Intrepid, LT Decatur in command
  • Intrepid entered the harbor at Tripoli in company with USS Syren the night of 16 February 1804 and burned the frigate to prevent the Tripolitans from using her against the US fleet
  • Intrepid returned to her base at Syracuse, 19 February
  • Designated as a hospital ship, 1 June 1804
  • Intrepid rejoined the squadron off Tripoli, 22 August, 1804
  • Refitted as a fireship to be sent into the harbor destroy the corsair fleet
  • LT. Richard Somers and a volunteer crew of 11 men sailed Intrepid into the harbor, 4 September 1804
  • Sometime before she was expected to reach the corsair fleet there was a violent explosion
  • Final Disposition, Commodore Preble later concluded that Tripolitans defenders must have boarded Intrepid prompting her crew to blow her up giving their lives to prevent the ship's valuable cargo of powder from falling into the hands of the enemy. All on board were lost.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 64 t.
    Length 60'
    Beam 12'
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement 70
    Armament
    four guns
    Propulsion sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Intrepid 81k Contemporary sketch by Midshipman William Lewis, with a description reading: "The Ketch Intrepid taken by the Constitution of(f) Tripoli in Dec. 1803. Was the vessel with which Capt. Decatur burnt the Philadelphia in Feby 1804. She served as a store vessel off Tripoli and was at last turned into an Infernal in order to blow up part of the Bashaw's castle. In this unfortunate attempt she was blown up & all her crew perished. Cpt. Sommers, Lieuts. Wadsworth & Israel & 10 or 12 men. 4th Septr. '04." The original sketch was in the possession of Captain C.W. Cook, O.R.C.U.S.A., 1925.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 53249    		 US History and Heritage Command
    Intrepid 136k 19th Century painting by G. Brooking, depicting USS Intrepid off Tripoli in 1804, illuminated by moonlight.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 53250, Courtesy of Mr. J.M. Brotherhood, 1951.    		 US History and Heritage Command
    Philadelphia 144k "Boarding the Philadelphia" Halftone reproduction of an artwork by J.O. Davidson, depicting the boarding of the captured US Frigate Philadelphia by a party led by LT. Stephen Decatur, in Tripoli harbor, 16 February 1804. Copied from a book entitled "History of the Navy".
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 1340    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Philadelphia 155k Reproduction of a 19th Century engraving, depicting LT. Stephen Decatur leading his men as they recaptured the USF Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor, prior to setting her afire. Published in the "American Weekly" supplement to the "Washington Times-Herald", circa March-April 1940, illustrating an article by Harold T. Wilkins.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 50525    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Philadelphia 86k "Burning of the Frigate Philadelphia in the Harbor of Tripoli, February 16, 1804" Oil on canvas, 60" by 42", by Edward Moran (1829-1901), signed and dated by the artist, 1897. It depicts USF Philadelphia, previously captured by the Tripolitans, ablaze after she was boarded and set afire by a party from the ketch USS Intrepid led by LT. Stephen Decatur. Painting in the U.S. Naval Academy Museum Collection. Gift of Paul E. Sutro, 1940.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 10849    		 Tommy Trampp
    Philadelphia 129k 19th Century painting depicting USF Philadelphia aflame in Tripoli harbor, after she had been captured and set afire by LT. Stephen Decatur's boarding party.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 50459. Courtesy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Philadelphia 121k Artwork from the collection of Mr. Stephen Decatur, depicting USF Philadelphia afire after she was boarded and set ablaze by a party led by LT. Stephen Decatur. In the left foreground is the ketch USS Intrepid, which Decatur used during this mission.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 56735.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Philadelphia 143k "Burning of the Frigate Philadelphia in the Harbour of Tripoli, 16th Feb. 1804, by 70 Gallant Tars of Columbia commanded by Lieut. Decatur." Aquatint engraving by F. Kearney, published in August 1808. It depicts the ketch USS Intrepid, under LT. Stephen Decatur, at left, leaving Tripoli harbor after her crew had boarded the USF Philadelphia and set the ship ablaze.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 56751.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Philadelphia 147k "Burning of the Philadelphia." 19th Century engraving, depicting the burning of USF Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor by a boarding party led by LT. Stephen Decatur, 16 February 1804.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 60689.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Intrepid 191k "Blowing Up of the Fire ship Intrepid commanded by Capt. Somers in the Harbour of Tripoli on the night of the 4th Sepr. 1804" Contemporary line engraving. Text on the original, below the title line, reads: "Before the Intrepid had gained her Destined situation she was suddenly boarded by 100 Tripolines, when the Gallant Somers and Heroes of his Party, Lieuts. Wadsworth and Israel and 10 Men, observed themselves surrounded by 5 Gun-boats, and no prospect of Escape, determined at once to prefer Death and the Destruction of the Enemy, to Captivity & a torturing Slavery, put a Match to train leading directly to the Magazine, which at once blew the whole into the Air." Descriptions directly below the image are (from left to right): "Bashaw's Castle and Fort"; "Harbour of Tripoli"; "Fireship blowing up ..."; "Tripoline Gun Boats": and "American Squadron".
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 53248    		 US History and Heritage Command
    USS Intrepid (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Tripoli Monument at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland
    Documents Relating to the Case of the Capture and Destruction of the Frigate Philadelphia"
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 2 September 2016