USS Beagle ( 1822 ) USS " Beagle " was a schooner in the United States Navy during the 1820s . " Beagle " was purchased by the Navy on 20 December 1822 in Baltimore , Maryland , and commissioned early in 1823 , Lieutenant John T . Newton in command . On 15 February 1823 , the schooner put to sea from Hampton Roads , Virginia , in company with Commodore David Porter ' s squadron , bound for the West Indies . Depredations inflicted on American shipping by pirates in the Caribbean constituted the reason this and other punitive expeditions were launched . The squadron arrived in the Virgin Islands at the island of St . Thomas on 3 March and soon thereafter began searching for pirates . On 21 July , while " Beagle " and schooner " Greyhound " were reconnoitering Cape Cruz on the southern coast of Cuba , the commanding officers of both warships went ashore to investigate but found nothing on that side of the cape . Thereupon , they reembarked in their boat and pulled around to the other side of the promontory . When close to the shoreline , they came under fire that forced them to retreat around the cape to their ships . The following day , " Beagle " and " Greyhound " rounded the cape and anchored within gunshot of the shoreline . One landing party went ashore to work around behind the pirates and cut off their retreat while another , supported by the guns of the two schooners , assaulted the pirates frontally . The pirates retreated , evaded the attempted encirclement , and escaped . The Americans located the pirates ' base and destroyed it , carrying off the heavier weaponry . " Beagle " then resumed her patrols and continued to ply the waters of the West Indies until the autumn of 1823 when a severe outbreak of yellow fever forced her and several other ships of the squadron to return home for new crews . " Beagle " returned to the West Indies sometime in 1824 . Late in October , she was at St . Thomas when some pirates from Fajardo , Puerto Rico , stole about 5 , 000 dollars worth of merchandise from an American - owned store . One of the store ' s owners requested Lt . Platt — then commanding " Beagle " — to help in recovering the goods . Platt agreed and quickly set " Beagle " s sails for Fajardo . Late that evening , the schooner entered the outer harbor at Fajardo and anchored for the night . The next morning , 27 October 1824 , Platt and a party of men from " Beagle " went ashore , in civilian garb , after having identified himself and his ship to local authorities . In a meeting with those same local authorities , he received assurances that the merchandise would be found and returned to its rightful owners . Satisfied that his mission was going well , Platt took his party to a public house for breakfast . At mid meal , summoned back to the mayor ' s office , Platt soon learned that the mood of the Spanish authorities had changed markedly . In response to the captain of the port ’ s demand that he produce " Beagle " s register , he declared that a warship carried no register . Thereupon , the captain of the port stated that Platt would be imprisoned if he did not come up with one . Platt attempted to leave the office , but a detail of soldiers barred his way . Finally , the lieutenant succeeded in getting permission for one of his party to return to " Beagle " to retrieve his commission and uniform . When the designated sailor returned , Platt donned his uniform and presented his commission . The Spanish authorities , however , pronounced the commission a forgery , denounced Platt as a pirate , and briefly imprisoned him in a filthy guardhouse . He was soon taken back to the mayor ’ s office where the authorities granted him permission to send for his orders as " Beagle " s commanding officer . After examining Platt ’ s orders , the Spaniards finally released him . Platt returned to " Beagle " and immediately set sail for St . Thomas to report this affront to the American flag and to the Navy to Commodore Porter . On 12 November 1824 , Porter reached St . Thomas in the frigate " John Adams " . Platt ’ s report of the incident enraged the commodore , and he at once resolved to extract a public apology from the Spanish authorities . The next morning , " Beagle " headed back to Fajardo in company with " John Adams " and " Grampus " . Only " Beagle " and " Grampus " completed the short voyage since shallow water at the halfway point forced the commodore to complete the journey in " Grampus " and leave " John Adams " to await his return . The two smaller ships , reinforced by about 100 men from " John Adams " , arrived at Fajardo just after sunrise on 14 November . Porter then sent Lieutenant Cornelius Stribling and a small advance party under a flag of truce to deliver a letter to the Spanish authorities demanding a suitable public apology . Later , Porter led the remainder of his large , well armed landing party inland toward the town . When he arrived near the town , he drew up his force and moved forward alone to confer with the officer in charge of an advance party of his marines . About 15 minutes later , Lt . Stribling appeared accompanied by Fajardo ’ s mayor , captain of the port , and several leading citizens . After some heated haggling in which the mayor indicated that he had been coerced by the pirates and factions favorable to them , he and the captain of the port finally made acceptable apologies to Lt . Platt . The commodore and his landing party returned to the beach , enjoyed some refreshments , and reembarked . He penned a report of the entire incident to the Secretary of the Navy . Confident that he had done his duty , Porter thought no more of it . Later , however , he would be recalled , court martialed , and suspended from the Navy for six months . Instead , Porter resigned his commission . After the conclusion of the Fajardo incident , " Beagle " resumed her patrols against pirates . By the end of 1824 , she scoured the coast of Colombia searching for the seaborne predators on a cruise that lasted through the first two months of 1825 . In March of that year , the schooner reentered Chesapeake Bay and sailed up the Potomac River to Washington , D . C . Upon arriving at the Washington Navy Yard , " Beagle " was decommissioned , and she was sold soon thereafter .