New Orleans Squadron The New Orleans Squadron or the New Orleans Station was a United States Navy squadron raised out of the growing threat the United Kingdom posed to Louisiana during the War of 1812 . The first squadron consisted of over a dozen vessels and was mostly defeated during the war . After , new ships were stationed at New Orleans which engaged in counter - piracy operations for over twenty years . The New Orleans Squadron was eventually merged with the Home Squadron . History . War of 1812 . Originally commanded by Daniel Patterson in 1814 , the squadron consisted of fifteen vessels , including the schooner s USS " Carolina " and USS " Sea Horse " , the two small sloops - of - war USS " Alligator " and USS " Tickler " along with several Jeffersonian class gunboat s . On December 13 , 1814 , the " Sea Horse " fought off two attacks from a British boat expedition which was heading to Lake Borgne . The next day , the expedition defeated five of the squadron ' s gunboats under Thomas ap Catesby Jones at the Battle of Lake Borgne , USS " Tickler " and USS " Alligator " were also scuttled or captured . As result of this action , the British gained control of the lake which was then used as the landing zone for their army that marched on New Orleans . On December 27 , as part of the Battle of New Orleans , the " Carolina " was badly damaged by enemy artillery fire and abandoned by her crew . She later exploded when fire reached her powder magazine . Although Jean Lafitte fought for America at New Orleans , the squadron operated against his pirates until ultimately being evicted from their base at Barataria on September 16 , 1814 by Commodore Patterson . Six of his pirate ships were captured without a fight and around $ 500 , 000 worth of valuables were taken as prize . Anti - Piracy Operations . Between the War of 1812 and 1830 , piracy in the West Indies flared up again , prompting the United States to take more serious action against the outlaws . By 1818 Jean Lafitte commanded a fleet of ships pirating out of Galveston , Texas so the New Orleans Squadron began operations against him . Around this time Lafitte suffered a significant distraction from his work , a hurricane hit Galveston in the summer of 1818 , leaving his base in ruins and one of his newest ships was captured by the squadron . That same year , USS " Enterprise " , under Lieutenant Lawrence Kearny , arrived at Galveston and demanded his leave which was done so without bloodshed . The revenue cutters USRC " Alabama " and USRC " Louisiana " captured another one of his ships in 1819 . Both of the cutters were temporarily serving with the New Orleans station at the time . Meanwhile , on the other side of the Gulf of Mexico , and in the Caribbean , attacks on American merchant ships by Spanish and Central American pirates increased . Over the course of the next decade , thousands of attacks on merchant vessels by West Indies pirates were reported , many of the victims were American ships . In 1821 , the first United States Navy fleet created specifically to fight piracy in the Caribbean became known as the West Indies Squadron . When this squadron was deployed , piracy in the New Orleans region began to decline for good . By 1838 the Home Squadron was created and was used for protecting the American coastline until the outbreak of civil war in 1861 .