USS Hornet (1805 sloop)

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History
US flag 15 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Hornet
Namesake Hornet
AcquiredApril 1805
CommissionedApril 1805
Decommissioned3 September 1806
FateSold
General characteristics
Displacement71 tons
Complement34
Armament10 guns

The second USS Hornet, was a single-masted, wooden-hulled sailing sloop-of-war of the United States Navy [Notes 1] that saw service in the First Barbary War in the Mediterranean Sea along the shores of North Africa. The ship was formerly the merchant ship Traveller of Massachusetts and was purchased at Malta by the U.S. Navy to join in the American blockade at Tripoli. [1]

Contents

First Barbary War

In April 1805, during the First Barbary War the Hornet with Lieutenant Samuel Evans in command, sailed for the Mediterranean Sea to join the American fleet blockading the harbor at Tripoli, joining up with the ships Argus and Nautilus [1] The Hornet was to accompany the Argus to take supplies and money to meet Eaton and his land expedition at Bomba and to later join up with the fleet, commanded by Commodore John Rodgers in the bombardment of Derna [2] and later Tripoli. Her bombardment in company with Argus and Nautilus on 27 April 1805 helped force the surrender of Derna to a land expedition bringing pressure to bear on the besieged port of Tripoli, where the Pasha soon accepted terms of peace. [2] [3]

After helping to evacuate the expedition from Derna, she was with the U.S. fleet at Tunis on 30 July. [4] and other Barbary ports later. This was effective in quelling threats of piratical acts against merchant shipping in the Mediterranean. Hornet continued patrols to ensure safety of American commerce in the Mediterranean until 3 June 1806. After riding out a severe gale that carried away her top mast, she arrived in Philadelphia on 9 August. Hornet was decommissioned and sold at Philadelphia on 3 September 1806. [5]

See also

Notes

  1. Not to be confused with the Brig Hornet also built in 1805, or the USS Hornet, a sidewheel steamer built in 1864

References

  1. 1 2 U.S.Navy, DANFS, Hornet, prgh.1
  2. 1 2 Harris, 1837 p. 121
  3. Whipple, 2001 pp.222–223
  4. Naval Documents related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers Volume VI Part 1 of 4 May 1805 through 1807 (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 199. Retrieved 18 July 2025 via Ibiblio.
  5. U.S.Navy, DANFS, Hornet, prgh.2

Bibliography