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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images -- Picture Data

Photo #: NH 56745

Burning of the frigate Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor, 16 February 1804


Chart by Charles Wellington Furlong, 1904, depicting (by dot and dash lines) the course followed by the ketch Intrepid, under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, as she entered and left Tripoli harbor on her mission to destroy the captured USS Philadelphia. Heavy dashed line indicates Philadelphia's drift after she was set afire. Position "A" marks Philadelphia's position when boarded by Decatur's men, while "B" is the location of her wreck when Furlong located it about a century later and recovered artifacts.
Position "X" (just west of the Jerba Passage) is the location of Intrepid's wreck after she blew up on 4 September 1804, during another mission into Tripoli harbor.

Courtesy of Charles Wellington Furlong, July 1939.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 115KB; 690 x 650 pixels

 

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15 November 2002