West Indies Anti - Piracy Operations of the United States The West Indies Anti - Piracy Operations refer to the United States Navy presence in the Antilles , and surrounding waters , which fought against pirates . In between 1817 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 after the turn of the century . Operations . Origins . United States Navy and Revenue Service ships had operated against piracy and the slave trade in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico for several years prior to 1822 when a permanent squadron was formed . After a September 1821 attack by pirates , in which three American merchant ships were captured , Congress authorized Commodore James Biddle to deploy a fleet to the Caribbean . This force consisted of two frigate s , USS " Macedonian " , and USS " Congress " , two corvette s , USS " Cyane " and USS " John Adams " , two sloops - of - war , USS " Hornet " and USS " Peacock " , two brig s , USS " Spark " and USS " Enterprise " , the schooner s USS " Grampus " , USS " Alligator " , USS " Shark " and USS " Porpoise " . Two gunboat s , " No . 158 " and " No . 168 " also participated with a total of over 1 , 500 naval personnel . Before the fleet was sent , only single ship operations had been undertaken . Over the course of a few decades the American West Indies Squadron continually engaged Spanish , Venezuelan , Cuban and Puerto Rican pirates . Many of the actions ended with the sinking or capturing of pirate vessels though often the outlaws escaped to shore . 1817 - 1821 . The first American vessels to serve against West Indies piracy were the schooners USS " Enterprise " , USS " Nonsuch " and USS " Lynx " with the gunboats " No . 158 " and " No . 168 " were among the vessels deployed between 1817 and 1822 . All of these ships operated independently and there was no commander of the squadron until its official establishment . Many of the pirates in the period were Latin American s and doubled as privateer s . Revolution against Spain was widespread and both the rebel governments and the Spanish issued letters of marque . Often the privateers captured American merchantmen and attacked their crews which resulted in them being branded as pirates . In 1819 President James Monroe sent Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry to Venezuela with the frigate USS " Constellation " , the corvette USS " John Adams " and USS " Nonsuch " . The commodore ' s orders were to demand restitution for the capture of American merchant ships by Venezuelan privateers and to receive an assurance that the privateers would be restrained from attacking again . Perry was successful in completing his mission initially and a treaty was signed on August 11 , though on his cruise back to the United States , he died of yellow fever at Trinidad which caused the agreement to fail . On December 22 , 1817 , USS " John Adams " forced the pirate Luis Aury to evacuate his base at Amelia Island , Florida . Later , " John Adams " was flagship of Commodore Biddle ' s squadron . By 1820 , hostilities with the pirates and privateers started to increase , United States warships engaged in several naval actions that year and a total of twenty - seven American merchant ships were captured . In Between 1818 and 1821 , USS " Enterprise " captured thirteen pirate and slave ships while serving with the New Orleans Squadron and later in the West Indies . On October 24 , 1819 , while under command of Lieutenant J . R . Madison , USS " Lynx " captured two pirate schooners and two boats in the Gulf of Mexico and on November 9 , she captured another pirate boat in Galveston Bay . " Lynx " disappeared in January 1820 while sailing to Jamaica , she likely sank due to a storm , none of her crew were ever seen or heard from again . In October , 1821 , while sailing off Cape Antonio , Cuba , USS " Enterprise " came to the assistance of three merchantmen which had been seized by four pirate craft . Boats were launched and attacked the brigands , in the end , over forty pirates were killed or captured and two of their vessels taken . A month later , the " Enterprise " attacked a pirate base near Cape Antonio and cleared the area criminals . In September 1821 , three American merchant ships were massacred off Matanzas , Cuba . The crew of one ship was tortured and the vessel was set on fire , survivors were able to escape to shore in a boat . Three men were killed on the second American ship and everyone on the third vessel which was also burned . This incident was one of the main reasons why the anti - piracy operation was continued . USS " Hornet " captured a privateer schooner named " Moscow " on October 29 , 1821 and on December 21 , she captured a pirate ship apparently without a fight and the crew escaped to shore . On December 16 , 1821 , Lieutenant James Ramage in USS " Porpoise " was sailing off Cape Antonio and found five enemy vessels , including the merchant brig " Bolina " . Forty sailors were lowered into five boats and Ramage led the advance . Though some of the pirates fled to shore , many resisted and the five American boats destroyed the five pirate ships by burning them . They also freed the " Bolina " . Three pirates were captured and a several killed according to reports . In autumn of 1821 , USS " Spark " , under Lieutenant John Elton , departed Boston and joined the list of vessels assigned to counter piracy . In January 1822 , Elton captured a Dutch flagged pirate sloop . Seven prisoners were taken to Charleston for trial , " Spark " then returned to the Caribbean and remained on station for the next three years by which time the official West Indies Squadron was formed . 1822 - 1823 . When the United States Navy began campaigning against the pirates , the Royal Navy was quick to follow suit and created their own West Indies Squadron . Three significant engagements occurred between the British and the pirates in 1822 and 1823 . In March , boat crews from the USS " Enterprise " captured two launches and four boats in a creek near Cape Antonio and on March 6 , they seized eight more craft and over 150 pirates . A British merchantman under Captain William Smith was taken over by Spanish pirates of the schooner " Emanuel " in July 1822 . The pirates made the British commander walk the plank and when he attempted to swim away , he was shot in the back . Also on the ship was the captain ' s fourteen - year - old son , the boy ' s head was crushed by the pirate captain when he could no longer stand to hear the crying child . USS " Grampus " encountered the brig " Palyrma " flying Spanish colors on August 15 , 1822 . Commanding Lieutenant Gregory suspected the ship to be a pirate so he approached to board but as the " Grampus " drew near , the " Palyrma " opened fire and a brief three and a half minute battle was fought . After boarding the wrecked vessel , the pirates were found to be from Puerto Rico and had a letter of marque that was intended to get the outlaws out of a situation like this . The letter was found to be fake so the pirates were detained and handed over to the Spanish in Cuba . At this time the usual procedure for dealing with captured pirates was turning them over to Spain because the United States didn ' t have the authority to imprison them . The United States Navy could not pursue the pirates on Spanish soil either so in April 1822 , Commodore David Porter , in USS " Macedonian " , assumed command of the station and one of his first missions was to consult with Governor Captain General Don Nicholas Mahy of Cuba and the governor of Puerto Rico . Both governors denied Porter ' s request to allow American shore parties to land but at the same time the United States government permitted the West Indies Squadron to do so but only in remote areas . Commodore Porter then attacked and destroyed a pirate force at Funda Bay , Cuba between September 28 and 30 , 1822 . Also on September 28 , the " Peacock " captured a boat filled with pirates about sixty miles from Havana an later that afternoon , USS " Peacock " encountered the merchant vessel " Speedwell " which was attacked by pirates two hours before . In response , Captain Stephen Cassin launched a boat expedition which captured four schooners but again most of the pirates escaped . On September 30 , 1822 , the twenty - six gun HMS " Tyne " was escorting a one - gun merchant sloop " Eliza " when attacked by a five gun pirate felucca named " Firme Union " . During the engagement that ensued , the British boarded and captured the pirate ship . Ten pirates were killed and the rest abandoned ship and escaped . On November 2 , 1822 , USRC " Louisiana " along with USS Peacock and the Royal Navy schooner HMS " Speedwell " captured five pirate vessels off Havana . On November 8 , 1822 , Lieutenant William Howard Allen of USS " Alligator " was killed in battle while leading an attack against three enemy schooners which were holding five merchantmen hostage . In the action , two of the schooners were captured and at least fourteen pirates were killed . Due to Lieutenant Allen ' s death , Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson authorized Commodore Porter to procure new vessels for the squadron . Porter acquired eight new shallow draft schooners , five large barges , a steam powered riverboat and a storeship schooner . The schooners were each armed with three guns and became the USS " Beagle " , USS " Ferret " , USS " Fox " , USS " Greyhound " , USS " Jackal " , USS " Terrier " , USS " Weasel " , and the USS " Wild Cat " . . The storeship was USS " Decoy " and the steamer became USS " Sea Gull " . The new squadron left the United States for Cuba on February 15 , 1823 . Commodore Biddle also received new orders of conduct , he was now able to land shore parties in populated areas as long as he informed the locals first . Biddle was also ordered to cooperate with any other sovereign naval forces operating against pirates . HMS " Grecian " of six guns captured the eight gun schooner " La Cata " on March 1 , 1823 south of Cuba . Thirty brigands were killed in action and only three were taken prisoner out of a force of over 100 men . USS " Fox " was sent to San Juan , Puerto Rico , in March 1823 to obtain a list of all legally commissioned privateers and a details of their instructions . When the American schooner entered San Juan Harbor on March 3 , an artillery battery fired on the ship . A few shots hit the " Fox " which mortally wounded her commander , Lieutenant William H . Cocke . Commodore Porter later accepted an apology for the incident from Puerto Rico ' s governor . The British warships " Tyne " and HMS " Thracian " of eighteen guns defeated the notorious pirate Captain Cayatano Aragonez ' s thirteen gun ship " Zaragozana " on March 31 , in a running battle , the two British ships chased Captain Aragonez into Mata Harbor where boats were lowered and captured the vessel . Ten pirates were killed and twenty eight were captured while the Royal Navy sustained only slight casualties . Two barges , USS " Gallinipper " and USS " Mosquito " , liberated an American merchant vessel on April 8 . The navy sailors killed two of the pirates and arrested one other though most got away . On April 16 , " Mosquito " , " Gallinipper " and USS " Peacock " , spotted a felucca off Colorados . " Peacock " managed to capture the felucca though its crew fled to shore before scuttling three of their schooners . " Grampus " rescued the crew of the American schooner " Shiboleth " after it was taken by pirates in June 1823 . The brigands boarded the merchantman silently , killed the guards , and then cornered the remainder of the crew within the ship . The pirates robbed the ship and set her on fire , " Grampus " arrived when the " Shiboleth " was still burning and took off her surviving crew . A few days later , pirates attacked another merchant before being detected by the Spanish Army and captured . USS " Ferret " s crew skirmished with the brigands in June . During one incident , the " Ferret " found a few pirate craft in shallow water off Matanzas . First the " Ferret " attacked using her broadside guns and sank two of the boats which were fleeing along the coast . Due to the low depth , a boat was used to attack the remaining craft but when the Americans came within range , the pirates opened fire and shot a hole through their boat which returned to the " Ferret " and sank . With their only boat destroyed , the Americans were forced to continue their patrol and the brigands got to shore . Later that day , " Ferret " commandeered a small vessel with a shallow draft and returned to where their boat was sunk , hoping to engage the pirates again but bad weather stopped the operation . The following morning the Americans encountered a British merchantman which gave them a boat . Again " Ferret " returned to Matanzas Bay but all that was there was the two sunken boats that she destroyed earlier . On July 5 , 1823 , USS " Sea Gull " , under the command of Lieutenant William H . Watson , with the barges " Gallinipper " and " Mosquito " , fought pirates off Matanzas , near where Lieutenant Allen was killed a year earlier . The three American vessels encountered a heavily armed schooner , with a crew of about seventy - five , near a Cuban village . The United States Navy attacked with their cannon and the schooner was hit so her captain began a retreat . When further hits struck the schooner , the pirates panicked and began to abandon ship by jumping into the water . The barges maneuvered in close to the schooner and the sailors and marines on board fired volleys into their fleeing enemy , shouting " Allen , Allen " in the process . Fifteen pirates made it ashore but were attacked by an American landing party . Eleven more were killed and the last four were captured by the Cuban villagers . In total about seventy pirates were killed while only five survived . On July 21 , the commanders of " Beagle " and " Greyhound " were investigating Cape Cruz , Cuba in a boat when it was fired upon from the shore . The Americans withdrew to their ship and on the next morning they landed sailors and marines who attacked and destroyed a makeshift fort . The pirates evaded the American shore party but their base was dismantled and a few heavy artillery pieces were removed . USS " Sea Gull " , with Ralph Voorhees in command , recaptured the merchant schooner " Pacification " from pirates on March 30 . 1824 - 1825 . Throughout the history of the West Indies Squadron , tropical disease was common among the American warships which had to sail back to the United States when outbreaks occurred . By January 1824 , most of the West Indies Squadron ships had been recalled , mainly because of illness though in February , the squadron under Commodore Porter , sailing in flagship USS " Firefly " , returned to operate for a few months before sailing north again in July . During this time , piracy in Puerto Rican waters began to briefly rise until mid - 1825 , between July and August , ten attacks on American merchant vessels were reported and only a few warships remained on station , by October the majority were back in home waters . Commodore Porter was relieved of duty in February 1825 and joined the Mexican Navy , this was after the Spanish authorities in Puerto Rico detained USS " Peacock " s commander Lieutenant Platt in October 1824 . That month pirates raided Saint Thomas in the Danish Virgin Islands and returned to Fajardo with $ 5 , 000 worth of stolen merchandise from an American owned business . The stores owner requested that Lieutenant Platt help him recover his goods . Platt landed men in Fajardo on October 27 , in order to not alert the pirates , the shore party wore civilian clothes and as result , they were arrested by the Spanish Army and charged with piracy . Platt explained why he was out of uniform and later on the Spanish allowed for one of his men to retrieve the lieutenant ' s uniform and commission . Upon seeing this , the Americans were released . When Commodore Porter heard of this he sailed to Fajardo with USS " John Adams " , the " Beagle " and " Grampus " . There he landed a shore party on November 14 and demanded an apology from the Spanish . Eventually the Spaniards agreed to make a public apology so the expedition boarded their ships and sailed away . The United States government was not happy with Commodore Porter ' s actions and he was court martialed before resigning his commission . The American operation against West Indies pirates was declared a victory in 1825 though occasional outbreaks of piracy continued . In March 1825 , the " Gallinipper " was accompanied by the frigate HMS " Dartmouth " and the schooners HMS " Lion " and HMS " Union " in an operation against Cuban pirates . United States Navy Lieutenant Isaac McKeever commanded and led an attack against a hostile schooner at the mouth of the Sagua la Grande . American and British forces took the ship , killed eight enemies and captured nineteen others with the loss of only one man wounded . On the following day , another schooner was captured but the pirates escaped and the vessel was taken without bloodshed . Famed pirate Roberto Cofresi was defeated on March 2 , by the USS " Grampus " and two Spanish sloops off Boca del Infierno . Cofresi was considered the last Caribbean pirate to be successful . After he was executed on March 29 , 1825 , piracy declined in the region for good . United States naval operations in the West Indies were eventually turned over to the Home Squadron and the Brazil Squadron by 1842 .