USS Argus (1803)
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Argus during the War of 1812
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Merrimack |
| Namesake: | The Merrimack River in Massachusetts and New Hampshire |
| Ordered: | 29 April 1803 |
| Builder: | Edmund Hartt |
| Cost: | $37,428 |
| Laid down: | 12 May 1803 |
| Launched: | 31 August 1803 |
| Commissioned: | 6 September 1803 |
| Renamed: | USS Argus 4 June 1803 |
| Namesake: | Argus Panoptes, in Greek mythology a monster with a hundred eyes slain by the messenger of the gods Hermes |
| Launched: | 21 August 1803 |
| Commissioned: | August or September 1803 |
| Out of service: | 1806 (in ordinary) |
| In service: | 1807 (returned to full commission) |
| Fate: | Captured 14 August 1813 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Brig |
| Tonnage: | 299 |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 28 ft 2 in (8.59 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: | 142 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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The first USS Argus, originally named USS Merrimack, was a brig in the United States Navy commissioned in 1803. She enforced the Embargo Act of 1807 and fought in the First Barbary War – taking part in the blockade of Tripoli and the capture of Derna – and the War of 1812. During the latter inflict, she had been audaciously raiding British merchant shipping in British home waters for a month, when the heavier British Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Pelican intercepted her. After a sharp fight during which Argus's captain, Master Commandant William Henry Allen, was mortally wounded, Argus surrendered when the crew of Pelican were about to board.
The United States Congress authorized construction of the brig, originally named USS Merrimack, the second U.S. Navy ship of that name, on 23 February 1803, and on 29 April 1803 the U.S. Navy contracted with the shipyard of Edmund Hartt at Boston, Massachusetts, to construct the ship. Edmund Hartt's brother, Joseph Hartt, drafted the plans for the brig, designed with a flush deck and fine lines to optimize her for sailing conditions in the Mediterranean Sea. Captain Edward Preble was appointed superintendent of her construction, and her keel was laid down at Hartt's yard on 12 May 1803.
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