Combat· First Barbary War
Third Attack on Tripoli
On August 24, 1804, Captain Edward Preble's squadron stood in toward Tripoli, intending to attack the town and shipping in the night.
At eight in the evening the ships anchored about two and a half miles from the batteries. When the wind fell calm at midnight, Preble sent the bomb vessels in under the protection of the gunboats, with the boats of the squadron towing them. Officers and seamen of the John Adams, who had come aboard the Constitution as volunteers under Captain Chauncey, served mainly in the gunboats and boats. The bombardment began at two in the morning and continued until daylight, and the batteries did not fire a gun in reply during the night. Preble judged its effect uncertain, though the Constitution's log noted the Bashaw's castle had a breach of apparently nearly 40 feet. At six the boats were taken in tow, and the squadron anchored four miles north of the town.
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Record no. 907