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Battle of Tripoli (1804)
Part of First Barbary War
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Date September, 1804 Location Tripoli (present day Libya) Result Indecisive
Belligerents
United States	Tripoli
Commanders and leaders
Edward Preble	Ahmad Karamanli Rais Mohammad Rous
Casualties and losses
	unknown

The Battle of Tripoli Harbor also known as the Bombardment of Tripoli, was a fleet action and bombardment fought between the the Mediterranian Squadron of the United States and the navy of the Ottoman Vilayet of Tripoli during the First Barbary War. With the Tripolitian War settling into attrition and there was need for a decisive American victory in order to bring Tripoli‘s ruler Yusuf Karamanli to terms and end the war. Edward Preble, the American commander of the Mediterranian Squadron, decided the most effective way to defeat Tripoli would be to engage the Tripolitian fleet at port and bombard the city of Tripoli until Karamanli surrendered. If the American fleet could destroy the Pasha’s fleet as well as a large portion of the city, Preble felt that the Tripolitians would have no other option but to sue for peace.

Background

By 1804 the American situation in the war with Tripoli had begun to stagnate. American forces had maintained an intermittent blockade of Tripoli since 1801 without any significant effect on the Tripolitian military. Instead of bringing the Tripolitans to their knees, the Americans had suffered a near disaster when the frigate USS Pennsylvania was captured by the Tripolitians in an action with several corsairs before being destroyed in a daring raid by American forces. With opinions of American involvement in the war slipping in Washington, the newly arrived commander of American forces in the Mediterranean felt drastic measures had to be undertaken in order to bring a decisive end to the war before political pressure built to the point where Washington would accede to the Pasha’s demands and pay tribute to end the war.

Previous commanders had shied away from attacking Tripoli directly, preferring instead to blockade the port and attempt to take any ships trying to run the blockade. Despite three years of war, the fortifications of the city itself had not been tested except for an ineffectual attack during 1801 fought with the assistance of Swedish forces and a raid on the harbor in 1802 that was aimed at destroying merchant shipping.

Final Assault

Despite four committed attacks on the city, the Americans had done very little damage. Although the Mediterranean Squadron had destroyed and captured several Tripolitian vessels, the fleet was largely still intact. In a final attempt to destroy the fleet in the harbor, Preble decided to attack the Tripolitians with a fireship. The bomb ketch USS Intrepid, was the prime choice for the attack. As Intrepid had originally been a Tripolitian corsair herself, it was assumed that it would be relatively easy for the ketch to slip in the harbor amongst the corsairs at anchor there.