Combat· West Indies Anti-Piracy Campaign
USS Peacock vs pirate vessel west of Havana
A routine capture in the busy waters off western Cuba.
The sloop USS Peacock took a pirate vessel west of Havana, the Marine guard providing the boarding party. The approaches to Havana were among the most heavily worked grounds of the campaign, since the port was both a hub of legitimate commerce and a place where pirates lurked to snap up merchantmen entering and leaving. The action was bloodless. The Peacock, a veteran of the War of 1812, was one of the larger ships committed to the anti-piracy effort, and her presence off Havana was part of the squadron's strategy of patrolling the choke points where the raiders found their richest prey. Captures like this, individually small, added to the steady tally that gradually drove piracy from the Cuban coast.
Record no. 277