Stephen Decatur Sr.

Stephen Decatur Sr. (June 1751 – November 11, 1808) was an American privateer in the Revolutionary War and later in the Quasi-War was commissioned as a captain in the United States Navy. He was the father of Stephen Decatur Jr.

For other people named Stephen Decatur, see Stephen Decatur (disambiguation).

Stephen Decatur Sr.
engraving of Decatur in 1802
BornJune 1751
Newport, Rhode Island, British America
DiedNovember 11, 1808
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Buried
St. Peter's Church
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Navy
RankCaptain
Commands heldRoyal Louis
Fair American
USS Delaware
Battles/wars
Spouse(s)Ann Pine
Children3, including Stephen Jr.
Decatur house in Newport

Life

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Decatur was a merchant captain before the Revolution. He married Ann Pine; in addition to their son, they had two other children, Lieutenant James Decatur, who was killed in action in 1804 during the Barbary Wars, and Ann Decatur McKnight.

During the American Revolution he commanded the Royal Louis and the Fair American.[1]

With the outbreak of the Quasi War with France, Decatur was commissioned as a captain in the United States Navy on May 11, 1798.

On May 5, 1798, Decatur was placed in command of the converted merchant ship USS Delaware and sailed in the first American Navy squadron to cross the Atlantic along with his son Stephen Decatur Jr.[2][3] Delaware captured a French privateer, La Croyable, off Great Egg Harbor, N.J., on 7 July 1798. The U.S. Navy purchased La Croyable on 30 July 1798, and renamed her USS Retaliation.[4] From 14 July to 23 September, Delaware cruised in the West Indies, often in company with the frigate USS United States, and together the ships took two privateers prize. During her second cruise in the West Indies, between 15 December 1798 and 20 May 1799, she took another prize.[3]

On October 12, 1799, he was inducted as a Mason in St. John's Lodge #1 in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1800, Decatur commissioned Philadelphia, the very vessel that his son later burned several months after it ran aground and was captured near Tripoli harbor in 1803.

In accordance with the Peace Establishment Act of 1801, which greatly reduced the United States Army and Navy, Decatur was discharged from the Navy on October 22, 1801.

He died in 1808, at his country home "Millsdale" in Frankford, Pennsylvania. He is interred next to his famous son at St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia.

References
  1. MacKenzie, 1846 p.9
  2. MacKenzie, 1846 p.22
  3. "Delaware II (Ship)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.
  4. "Retaliation II (Schooner)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.
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Bibliography
  • MacKenzie, Alexander Slidell (1846). Life of Stephen Decatur: a commodore in the Navy of the United States. Boston: C. Little and J. Brown.
  • Waldo, Samuel Putnam (1821). The life and character of Stephen Decatur (PDF). Hartford, Conn.: P. B. Goodsell.
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