The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-03-11
FAMOUS NAMES IN HISTORY OF NAVY FOR DESTROYERS Little Ships Searching for U-Boats Commemorate
 Deeds of Heroes. TREBLE, STEWART
 CAMBRIDGE, HULL These and Other Names Re call Exploits of Navy of
 Infant Republic.

him seven galleys more. And never since the Argo floated in
 the Middle Sea,
 Such noble men and valiant. have sail
 ed in company
 As the men who went with Preble to
 the siege of Tripoli.
 Stewart Bainbridge, Hull, Decatur
 how their names ring out like
 gold!-
 Lawrence, Porter, Trippe, Macdonough
 and a score as true and bold.
 From Reuben James, by James
 Jeffrey Roche.
 "At half-past one the squadron stood for the batteries; at two they cast off the gunboats; at half-past two the signal was given for the bomb tack, and in fifteen minutes after the signal was given, general action was begun by the bomb-vessels throwing shells into the city"
 Thus was begun in 1903 one of the most brilliant engagements in the his tory of war,-an engagement that astounded the world-powers because it was instituted by the infant United States, and because it ended forever the paying of tribute to the piratical Barbary nations.
 With Commodore Preble sailed a group of intrepid young officers whose names and deeds then and later fur nished the traditions that have in a large measure made the navy of the
 stewart, Bainbridge, Hull, Decatur United States invinsible:
 how their names ring out like gold! Lawrence, Porter, Trippe, Mac donough, and a score as true and bold.''
 Now, one hundred and fifteen years since those men became famous, and the first time since then that an Amer ican fleet has been engaged in Euro pean waters-now, in the World War, the namesakes of those naval heroes of a century past are engaged against a common foe. These namesakes, de- stroyers, are battling to clear the seas of the piratical submarines, just as in the past those for whom the destroy CTS are named ended piracy on the high seas, and stopped the paying of | tribute.
 The record of the American navy throughout the years has been one ot heroic deeds and victory. The Revo- lution, the war of 1797, that of 1872 the campaigns against the Barbary powers, the Civil War, the Spanish American War-each produced its naval heroes.
 And now the World War! l Are the heroic deeds of naval his tory to be repeated?
 They are, without a doubt! The Of ficers of the navy of today have de- voted their lives to study of the deeds of their predecessors. They have trained themselves for the task of de feating the German navy, and victory in the end is certain.
 Battleships and cruisers of the navy 7I are named for states and cities. The destroyers are named for famous maya officers, and a destroyer fiotilla is or duty abroad. The names of the de stroyers making up this fiotilla are r, withheld from the public at the gov ernment's request; therefore in tht articles to follow, giving briefly some of the deeds of the men for whom de stroyers are named, no mention vii be made of the whereabouts of th' destroyer. It is safe to say that eacl destroyer named in these articles, i not now engaged, will within a shor T time be doing it's share of the navy huge task.
 : Traditions, how much they mean t every one! Why should not new his 2 tory be written by men commandin vessels whose very names mean tn most self-sacrificing, most heroic, mos ! glorious of naval deeds! l An interesting fact in naval histor , is that seven of the nine men name
 in the above verse commanded tn
 most famous ship in early naval an
 nals. In "The Romance of the Amer D ican Navy" Frederick Stanhope Hi
 says:
 "It is very doubtful if the naval his = tory of any nation can show nor !. brilliant record for a vessel of he size, than was made during the fir: :, fifteen years of the past century b . the little twelve-gun schoon Enter . prise, afterward rigged as a brig.
 During her very active service = the West Indies, in the war betwee
 the United States and France o 179S-99, as well as later in the Med terranean, where she took part in oI /. conflict with the Beys of Tunis an 5 Tripoli, the Enterprise invariab
 gave a good account of herself, g
 might have been expected when W @ note the men, afterward famous naval history, who as lieutenants con
 manded her.
 Among these were the sturdy Isaa
 Hull, ten years later the gallant con
 mander of the Constitutions; ar
 Stephen Decatur, whose heroic explo
 in the destruction of the Philadelph
 in the Bay of Tripoli was the prelu6
 to long and brilliant career. Otht captains of the little Enterprise wei Charles Stewart, who when in con mand of the Constitution captured u Cyane and Levant; David Porter Essex fame, father of the late admir- of the navy; and among her office < were James Lawrence, the "Bayard
 the Sea-" who gave up his life on u l. deck of the ill-fated Chesapeak iu Joseph Bainbridge, and Thomas Ma l. donough, who gained the glorious vi
 tory over the British on Lake Char oL plain"
 1T Another fact worthy of mention that four of these men command t. the Constitution, affectionately call a- "Old Ironsides," the last ship tn 'r links the old navy with the new. " Aboard the Constitution tho Id heroes of a century ago fought al S. won many bloody battles. Today t IT Constitution is center of interel