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1819 naval battle off the coast of Florida
The
capture of the schooner
Bravo
was a naval battle fought in 1819 between
United States Revenue Cutter Service
cutters and one of
Jean Lafitte
's
pirate
ships.
In early 1819, the two U.S.
Revenue Cutters
USRC
Alabama
and
USRC
Louisiana
had just been constructed in
New York City
at a cost of $4,500 each. The two
sister ships
, each equipped with a single
pivot gun
in the 9- to 18-pounder range, were dispatched to the
Gulf of Mexico
to conduct counter-
piracy
patrols.
Alabama
was assigned to the
Mobile Squadron
and
Louisiana
assigned to the
New Orleans Squadron
.
In August 1819,
Alabama
was temporarily assigned to
New Orleans
to help thwart the pirate incidents in those waters with
Louisiana
. On 31 August, the two ships were sailing the Gulf off southern
Florida
when they sighted the
schooner
Bravo
. The Americans gave chase and eventually came within firing range.
Bravo
resisted and a brief gunnery duel occurred, in which the first officer and three crew members of
Louisiana
were wounded.
[1]
The Americans then boarded
Bravo
and the pirates were captured.
Jean La Farges
, who commanded the suspected privateer, was a
lieutenant
of French pirate
Jean Lafitte
. Apparently no
letter of marque
was presented to the Americans, which explained why the pirates fled at the sight of the Revenue Cutter schooners. Jean La Farges was subsequently hanged in Louisiana on May 25, 1820.
[2]
In the following years, more battles occurred between United States naval forces and pirates in the Gulf of Mexico and the
Caribbean
. On 19 April 1819,
Alabama
and
Louisiana
destroyed a pirate base at the
Patterson's Town Raid
on
Breton Island
,
Louisiana
. Another action was fought on 10 July 1820 when the
Captain
of
Louisiana
captured four pirate ships off
Belize
. On 2 November 1822,
Louisiana
along with
USS
Peacock
and the
Royal Navy
schooner
HMS
Speedwell
captured five pirate vessels off
Havana
,
Cuba
.
Fate
[
edit
]
Louisiana
'
s career was soon over. In March 1824 she was put up for public auction.
Alabama
eventually went on to fight the
slave trade
in the
Atlantic
until she was sold in
Florida
on 6 August 1833.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Evans, Stephen H. (1949).
The United States Coast Guard 1790?1915: A Definitive History
. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland.
- ^
"US Coast Guard Timeline 1700s-1800s"
. US Coast Guard
. Retrieved
29 May
2020
.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
.
- Official U.S. Coast Guard history page
- Donald Canney.
U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935
. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
- U.S. Coast Guard.
Record of Movements: Vessels of the United States Coast Guard: 1790 - December 31, 1933
. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934?1989
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