February 16 in American History
During the war against the Barbary pirates, young naval officer Stephen Decatur slipped into Tripoli Harbor at night and burned the captured USS Philadelphia to deny it to the enemy — a raid Britain's Lord Nelson called "the most bold and daring act of the age." America's first overseas war established that it would defend its sailors and its flag.
In 1804: Stephen Decatur's daring raid at Tripoli. During the war against the Barbary pirates, young naval officer Stephen Decatur slipped into Tripoli Harbor at night and burned the captured USS Philadelphia to deny it to the enemy — a raid Britain's Lord Nelson called "the most bold and daring act of the age." America's first overseas war established that it would defend its sailors and its flag.
During the war against the Barbary pirates, young naval officer Stephen Decatur slipped into Tripoli Harbor at night and burned the captured USS Philadelphia to deny it to the enemy — a raid Britain's Lord Nelson called "the most bold and daring act of the age." America's first overseas war established that it would defend its sailors and its flag.
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