USS Guerriere ( 1814 ) USS " Guerriere " was the first frigate built in the United States since 1801 . The name came from a fast 38 - gun British frigate captured and destroyed in a half - hour battle by 19 August 1812 . This victory was the United States ' first success in the War of 1812 . She was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard under the supervision of Joseph and Francis Grice . She was launched on 20 June 1814 under the command of Commodore John Rodgers and attached to the Delaware Flotilla . She served in the United States Navy during the Second Barbary War . Second Barbary War operations . After fitting out , she was transferred to the command of Captain Stephen Decatur and became the flagship of the squadron assembled at New York . She sailed from New York on 20 May 1815 to lead the squadron in terminating piratical acts against American merchant commerce by Algiers and other Barbary States . On 17 June 1815 , off the Algerian coast , the frigate drove the 44 - gun frigate " Meshuda " , the flagship of the Algerian Fleet , under the guns of Decatur ' s flagship , " Guerriere " . With two broadsides , the American frigate drove below all who were not killed or disabled on " Meshuda " s decks , where after , " Meshuda " surrendered . Among her fatalities was Rais Hamidu , Algiers ' ranking naval officer . Two days later , " Guerriere " led the squadron in driving the 22 - gun Algerian brig " Estedio " ashore . " Guerriere " arrived at Algiers on 28 June 1815 , ready to act with her squadron for the capture of every Algerian ship that entered port unless the Dey ratified the terms of a peace treaty sent him by Decatur . The treaty was negotiated on board " Guerriere " on 30 June 1815 , ending the payment of tribute to Algiers and exacting full payment for injuries to American commerce . " Guerriere " next led the squadron in a show of force that resulted in a peace settlement with Tunis on 13 July 1815 and with Tripoli on 9 August 1815 . Having enforced the peace in less than six weeks from time of sailing from the United States , she combined with the entire Mediterranean Squadron naval force assembled at Gibraltar under Commodore William Bainbridge . The 18 warships , including ship - of - the - line , five frigates , two sloops - of - war , seven brig s , and three schooner s , was the largest fleet ever collected under the American flag in the Mediterranean Sea to that time . It marked the beginning of a permanent naval fleet in the Mediterranean , which has evolved into the powerful 6th Fleet of today . Then , as today , the fleet was a factor in keeping the peace and strengthening the international diplomacy of the nation . Peacetime operations . " Guerriere " returned to New York on 12 November 1815 and was laid up in the Boston Navy Yard for repairs on 4 March 1816 . She recommissioned under Captain Thomas Macdonough on 22 April 1818 for fitting out . On 24 July 1818 she put to sea , carrying the American Minister to Russia to his new post . After calls at Gibraltar , Cowes and Copenhagen , she debarked the American Minister and his family at Kronstadt , Russia , on 17 September 1818 . She then cruised throughout the Mediterranean until 26 July 1819 when she departed Leghorn for Norfolk , Virginia , arriving 4 October 1819 . She remained and was placed in ordinary there on 8 November 1820 . For the next seven years she served as a schoolship in the Norfolk Navy Yard , training classes of midshipmen before the permanent establishment of a naval academy . " Guerriere " terminated her schoolship duties late in November 1828 when she was ordered to fit out as the flagship of a U . S . Navy squadron destined for duty in the Pacific . She sailed on 13 February 1829 , landing passengers at Rio de Janeiro before rounding Cape Horn for Callao , Peru . In the following two years , she watched over American commerce , including the whaling fleet , along the western seaboard of South America and westward to the Hawaiian Islands . She departed Callao 8 September 1831 and arrived in Norfolk 29 November 1831 . " Guerriere " was decommissioned on 19 December 1831 , and remained in ordinary at the Norfolk Navy Yard until broken up in 1841 .