Jean Lafitte was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". This has become the common spelling in the United States, including places named after him.
The third US ship to be named Enterprise was a schooner, built by Henry Spencer at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1799. Her first commander thought that she was too lightly built and that her quarters, in particular, should be bulletproofed. Enterprise was overhauled and rebuilt several times, effectively changing from a twelve-gun schooner to a fourteen-gun topsail schooner and eventually to a brig. Enterprise saw action in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean again, capturing numerous prizes. She wrecked in July 1823.
USS Vesuvius was a bomb ketch, and the first ship of the United States Navy named for the Italian volcano.
USS Santee was a wooden-hulled, three-masted sailing frigate of the United States Navy. She was the first U.S. Navy ship to be so named and was one of its last sailing frigates in service. She was acquired by the Union Navy at the start of the American Civil War, outfitted with heavy guns and a crew of 480, and was assigned as a gunboat in the Union blockade of the Confederate States. She later became a training ship then a barracks ship for the U.S. Naval Academy.
The third USS Hornet was a brig-rigged sloop-of-war in the United States Navy. During the War of 1812, she was the first U.S. Navy ship to capture a British privateer.
USS Lynx, a 6-gun Baltimore Clipper rigged schooner, was built for the United States Navy by James Owner of Georgetown, Washington, D.C., in 1814, intended for service in one of the two raiding squadrons being built as part of President James Madison's administration’s plan to establish a more effective Navy, one capable not only of breaking the British naval blockade, but also of raising havoc with the British merchant marine.
Daniel Todd Patterson was an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary War, and the War of 1812.
The Mediterranean Squadron, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was part of the United States Navy in the 19th century that operated in the Mediterranean Sea. It was formed in response to the First and Second Barbary Wars. Between 1801 and 1818, the squadron was composed of a series of rotating squadrons. Later, squadrons were sent in the 1820s to the 1860s to suppress piracy, primarily in Greece and to engage in gunboat diplomacy. In 1865 the force was renamed the European Squadron.
The third USS Alligator was a schooner in the United States Navy.
The Texan schooner San Antonio was a two-masted schooner of the Second Texas Navy from 1839-1840. She was the sister ship of the San Jacinto and the San Bernard. In 1840, San Antonio was part of the Texas Navy flotilla led by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore which was dispatched to assist Yucatecan rebels that had taken up arms against Mexico. In February 1842, while re-provisioning in New Orleans, the crew of the San Antonio mutinied and the Lieutenant was killed. This was the only mutiny in the history of the Texas Navy. That fall, the San Antonio sailed for Campeche and was never heard from again.
The Texan schooner San Bernard was a two-masted schooner of the Second Texas Navy from 1839-1840. She was the sister ship of the San Jacinto and the San Antonio. In 1840, San Antonio was part of the Texas Navy flotilla led by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore which was dispatched to assist Yucatecan rebels that had taken up arms against Mexico. Returning to the Yucatan in 1841, San Bernard assisted in the capture of three Mexican prizes. Upon return to Galveston, San Bernard was driven ashore and was not repaired. When Texas joined the United States in 1846, San Bernard was transferred to the United States Navy and then sold for $150.
The capture of the schooner Bravo was a naval battle fought in 1819 between United States Revenue Cutter Service cutters and one of Jean Lafitte's pirate ships.
USRC Louisiana, was a wood hull topsail schooner designed by William Doughty that was commissioned in the United States Revenue Marine from 1819 to 1824. Assigned the homeport of New Orleans, Louisiana, she sailed the Caribbean extensively and was used mainly in anti-piracy activity.
The West Indies Squadron, or the West Indies Station, was a United States Navy squadron that operated in the West Indies in the early nineteenth century. It was formed due to the need to suppress piracy in the Caribbean Sea, the Antilles and the Gulf of Mexico region of the Atlantic Ocean. This unit later engaged in the Second Seminole War until being combined with the Home Squadron in 1842. From 1822 to 1826 the squadron was based out of Saint Thomas Island until the Pensacola Naval Yard was constructed.
The New Orleans Squadron or the New Orleans Station was a United States Navy squadron raised out of the growing threat the United Kingdom posed to Louisiana during the War of 1812. The first squadron consisted of over a dozen vessels and was mostly defeated during the war. Afterward, new ships were stationed at New Orleans which engaged in counter-piracy operations for over twenty years. The New Orleans Squadron was eventually merged with the Home Squadron.
The West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations refer to the United States Navy presence in the Antilles, and surrounding waters, which fought against pirates. Between 1814 and 1825, the American West Indies Squadron constantly pursued pirates on sea and land, primarily around Cuba and Puerto Rico.After the capture of Roberto Cofresi in 1825, acts of piracy became rare, and the operation was considered a success, although limited occurrences went on until slightly after the start of the 20th century.
HMS Speedwell was the mercantile Royal George, which the Royal Navy purchased in 1815 and converted to a 5-gun schooner. During her career in the West Indies, she helped capture or destroy a number of pirate vessels, and capture several slave ships. The Royal Navy sold her at Jamaica in 1834.
HMS Esk was a Cyrus-class ship-sloop launched at Ipswich in 1813. During the War of 1812 she captured one United States privateer, and fought an inconclusive action with another. Between 1825 and 1827 Esk was part of the West Africa Squadron, engaged in suppressing the trans-Atlantic slave trade, during which period she captured a number of slave ships. A prize she had taken also engaged in a notable single ship action. The Royal Navy sold Esk in 1829. Green, Wigram, and Green purchased her and between 1829 and 1845 she made four voyages in the British southern whale fishery as the whaler Matilda.
HMS Lion was the pirate schooner Gata, built in Baltimore in 1820, that the Royal Navy captured in 1823 and took into service. She took part in numerous expeditions against pirates, recaptured some of their prizes, and captured a slave ship. The Navy sold her in 1826.
United States