Antipiracy Campaign

Antipiracy Campaign. Key West — Florida Keys Historical Military Memorial. Antipiracy Campaign . A major outbreak of piracy in the Caribbean began in 1815 after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 18 12. By 1820, it had reached epidemic proportions. In that year, pirates robbed twenty-seven American vessels and brutalized or murdered their crews. Congress had created a special naval force in 1819 to combat the pirates in southern waters, but its numbers were too small, and its ships too large to be effective against the multitude of pirates who took refuge in shallow bays, inlets, and rivers. In 1822, with piracy still on the increase, Congress appropriated funds to further expand the antipiracy squadron. The Secretary of the Navy appointed Capt. David Porter, a naval hero of the War of 18 12 and a man of action, to take command of the squadron and establish his headquarters at Key West. In order to pursue the pirates into their inshore lairs, Porter purchased eight shoal-draft, fast-sailing Chesapeake Bay schooners, five twenty-oared gun barges, and a sidewheel steamer, the Sea Gull, to tow the barges. The Sea Gull was the first steam vessel in the world to see active naval service. Arriving in Key West in April 1823, Porter's forces began construction of storehouses, workshops, barracks, and a hospital. Porter spread his forces throughout the Caribbean wherever there were reports of pirate activity. His larger ships convoyed American merchantmen through pirate-infested waters while his smaller craft hunted the pirates in coves, inlets, and rivers. Yellow fever was the squadron's worst enemy (48 deaths in the first four months) and outbreaks drove Porter and most of his squadron away from Key West twice. Nevertheless, in the space of two years, his innovative tactics and vessels (together with the operations of British naval forces) had nearly eliminated the threat of piracy in southern waters. In later years, Porter strongly supported the establishment of a naval base at Key West, saying "It [Key West] is to the Gulf of Mexico what Gibraltar is to the Mediterranean." (Captions) Captain Porter purchased eight shoal-draft, Chesapeake Bay schooners, five twenty-oared gun barges, and a side wheel steamer, the Sea Gull, to tow the barges. Porter's larger ships convoyed American merchantmen through pirate-infested waters while his smaller craft hunted them in coves, inlets, and rivers.