USS Syren

Type

Brig

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: USS Syren (later renamed Siren) was a 16-gun brig of the early United States Navy, built to help enforce American demands during the First Barbary War. She is best remembered for her role supporting the famous raid that burned the captured frigate USS Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor in February 1804. Specifications: The brig displaced 240 long tons with a burthen of 298 tons, measured about 94 ft 3.5 in overall length and 27 ft beam, and drew roughly 11 ft aft. She carried a crew of 120 and was armed with 16 24-pounder carronades, giving her a heavy short-range punch typical of small American warships of the period. Service History: Built by Nathaniel Hutton at Philadelphia and launched 6 August 1803 under Lieutenant Charles Stewart, Syren sailed for Gibraltar that September and spent 1804 cruising the Mediterranean, supporting Commodore Preble's squadron against Tripoli, including the operation in which Stephen Decatur's men, ferried in part by Syren, burned the grounded Philadelphia. After the June 1805 peace treaty she remained in the Mediterranean nearly a year, returned home in 1806, was laid up at Washington Navy Yard, and was reactivated in 1807, later carrying dispatches to France in 1809, the same year her name was changed to Siren. During the War of 1812 she saw limited recorded action before being run down and captured on 12 July 1814 by the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Medway after an 11-hour chase in which she threw her guns and stores overboard trying to escape. Notable Facts: She was captured at sea by HMS Medway on 12 July 1814 after an 11-hour chase during which she jettisoned her guns, anchors, cables, boats, and spare spars in a valiant but futile effort to escape from the British 74-gun ship of the line. Siren was carried on the Royal Navy List until 1815, employed as a hospital hulk. The submitted image is a Naval History and Heritage Command detail (NH 65536-KN) cropped from Michele Felice Cornè's painting "Battle of Tripoli," depicting Preble's squadron in action off Tripoli in August 1804 — a useful visual reference for rigging and hull lines though a period artistic rendering rather than a technical draught.