Action of 1 August 1801 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 the " 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 ( USA ) 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 . 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 . 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 , the " Enterprise " approached the Tripolitan vessel and hailed her . The Tripolitan answered that she was seeking American vessels . At this the " Enterprise " struck the British colors , raised the American flag , and prepared for action . The Tripolitan vessel , " Tripoli " , and the " 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 . 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 . 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 . Battle . Shortly after Sterett had the American colors raised , he had his men open fire upon the Tripolitans at close range with musket s . In response , " Tripoli " returned fire with an ineffective broadside . The Americans returned fire with their own broadsides , which led Rous to break off the engagement and attempt to flee . Neither able to fight off the American vessel nor outrun her , the Tripolitans attempted to grapple " Enterprise " and board her . Once within musket range , " Enterprise " marines opened fire on the " Tripoli " , foiling its boarding attempt , and forced " Tripoli " to try to break away once more . " Enterprise " continued the engagement , firing more broadsides into the Tripolitan and blasting a hole in her hull . Severely damaged , " Tripoli " struck her colors to indicate surrender . As " Enterprise " moved towards the vessel to accept its surrender , the Tripolitans hoisted their flag and fired upon " Enterprise " . The Tripolitans again attempted to board the American schooner , but were repelled by " Enterprise " broadsides and musketry . After another exchange of fire , the Tripolitans struck their colors a second time . Sterett once more ceased firing and moved closer to " Tripoli " . In response , Rous again raised his colors and attempted to board " Enterprise " . " Enterprise " accurate gunnery once more forced " Tripoli " to veer off . As the action continued , Rous perfidiously feigned a third surrender in an attempt to draw the American schooner within grappling range . This time , Sterett kept his distance , and ordered " Enterprise " guns to be lowered to aim at the polacca ' s waterline , a tactic that threatened to sink the enemy ship . The next American broadsides struck their target , causing massive damage , dismasting her mizzen - mast , and reducing her to a sinking condition . With most of his crew dead or wounded , the injured Admiral Rous finally threw the Tripolitan flag into the sea to convince Sterett to end the action . Aftermath . At the end of the action " Tripoli " was severely damaged ; 30 of her crew were dead and another 30 were injured . The polacca ' s first lieutenant was among the casualties and Admiral Rous himself was injured in the fighting . In what amounted to a total American victory over the Tripolitans , " Enterprise " had suffered only superficial damage and no casualties . Sterett , whose orders did not give him the authority to retain prizes , let the polacca limp back to Tripoli . However , before setting her free , the Americans cut down " Tripoli " masts and sufficiently disabled her so that she could barely make sail . Sterett then continued his journey to Malta and picked up the supplies for which he was sent before returning to the blockade . After " Enterprise " left , " Tripoli " began its journey back to the port of Tripoli . On the way it ran into USS " President " and asked for assistance ; Rous falsely claimed that his vessel was Tunisian and that it had been damaged in an engagement with a French 22 - gun vessel . Dale suspected the vessel ' s true identity and merely provided Rous with a compass so he could find his way back to port . When he finally arrived at Tripoli , Rous was severely chastised by Yusuf Karamanli , the Pasha ( ruler ) of Tripoli . Stripped of his command , he was paraded through the streets draped in sheep ' s entrails while seated backwards on a jackass before suffering 500 bastinadoes . " Enterprise " victory over " Tripoli " had very different consequences for the two nations involved . In Tripoli , the defeat , combined with severity of the Rous ' punishment , severely hurt morale throughout the city , and led to significant reductions in recruitment for ships ' crews . In the United States , the exact opposite occurred , with wild publicity surrounding the arrival of news that the Americans had won their first victory over the Tripolitans . The American government gave a month ' s pay as a bonus to each of " Enterprise " crew members , and honored Sterett by granting him a sword and calling for his promotion . Fanciful plays were written about the victorious Americans , and morale and enthusiasm about the war reached a high point . The victory did not have any long - term consequences in the conduct of the war , however . Dale ' s blockade of Tripoli was ineffective in preventing ships from entering and leaving the port , and was equally ineffective in altering the Pasha ' s diplomatic stance toward the Americans . Dale ' s squadron was relieved in 1802 by another under Richard Morris , and the war continued until 1805 .