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The Action of 1 August 1801 was a single-ship action of the First Barbary War fought between the American schooner and the Tripolitan polacca ''Tripoli'' off the coast of modern-day Libya. As part of Commodore Richard Dale's Mediterranean Squadron, ''Enterprise'' had been deployed with the American force blockading the Vilayet of Tripoli. ''Enterprise'', under the command of Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, had been sent by Commodore Dale to gather supplies at Malta. While cruising towards Malta, ''Enterprise'' engaged ''Tripoli'', commanded by Admiral Rais Mahomet Rous. ''Tripoli'' put up a stubborn fight, and the engagement lasted for three hours before the polacca was finally captured by the Americans. Although the Americans had taken the vessel, Sterett had no orders to take prizes and so was obliged to release her. ''Enterprise'' completed her journey to Malta, and received honor and praise from the squadron's Commodore on her return to the fleet. The success of the battle boosted morale in the United States, since it was that country's first victory in the war against the Tripolitans. The opposite occurred in Tripoli, where morale sank heavily upon learning of ''Tripoli'' defeat. Despite ''Enterprise'' triumph, the war continued indecisively for another four years. ==Background== Following the recognition of the independence of the United States (US) in 1783, the new country's early administrations had elected to make tribute payments to the Vilayet of Tripoli to protect American commercial shipping interests in the Mediterranean Sea. Tripoli, nominally a subject of the Ottoman Empire, was practically autonomous in conducting her foreign affairs, and would declare war on non-Muslim states whose ships sailed in the Mediterranean in order to extract tribute from them. In 1801, the payments demanded by Tripoli from the United States were significantly increased. The newly elected administration of Thomas Jefferson, an opponent of the tribute payments from their inception, refused to pay.〔Allen 1905, p. 91〕 As a result, Tripoli declared war on the United States, and its navy began to seize American ships and crews in an attempt to coerce the Jefferson administration into acceding to their demands. When word of these attacks on American merchantmen reached Washington, D.C., the Jefferson administration gave the United States Navy the authority to conduct limited operations against Tripoli. As part of the American strategy, a squadron under Commodore Richard Dale was dispatched to blockade Tripoli.〔Boot 2002, p. 13.〕 By July 1801, Dale's force had begun to run low on water. In order to replenish his supplies, Dale dispatched the schooner USS ''Enterprise'', commanded by Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, to provision at the British naval base on Malta, while the commodore himself remained off Tripoli with the frigate to maintain the blockade. Soon after leaving the blockade, ''Enterprise'' came upon what appeared to be a Tripolitan cruiser sailing near her. Flying British colors as a ruse, ''Enterprise'' approached the Tripolitan vessel and hailed her. The Tripolitan answered that she was seeking American vessels. At this ''Enterprise'' struck the British colors, raised the American flag, and prepared for action.〔Fremont-Barnes 2002, p. 40.〕 The Tripolitan vessel, ''Tripoli'', and ''Enterprise'' were quite evenly matched. ''Enterprise'', with a complement of 90, was a 12-gun, 135-ton schooner built in 1799 that had seen action in the Quasi-War.〔Dobbs 2005, p. 138.〕 In contrast, ''Tripoli'', a lateen-rigged polacca with two masts, was crewed by 80 men under Admiral Rais Mahomet Rous and armed with 14 guns.〔Smethurst 2006, p. 81.〕 Although the Tripolitans held a slight advantage in firepower, ''Enterprise'' had to its advantage the larger crew and the element of surprise. The Americans were also significantly more experienced in gunnery action than the Tripolitans, who preferred to attack by boarding and taking over their opponents' ships.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Action of 1 August 1801」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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