USSSyren (fourth from left) during the bombardment of Tripoli in 1804.
History
United States
Name	USSSyren
Builder	Nathaniel Hutton
Cost	$32,522
Laid down	1803
Launched	6 August 1803
Commissioned	1 September 1803
Renamed	Siren, 1809
Fate	Captured at sea, 12 July 1814
United Kingdom
Name	Siren
Acquired	12 July 1814 by capture
Commissioned	Not commissioned
Fate	Not listed after 1815
General characteristics[1]
Type	Brig
Displacement	240long tons (244 t)
Tons burthen	298 (bm)
Length	94 ft3+1⁄2 in (28.7 m) (overall); c,75 ft 0 in (22.9 m)
Beam	27 ft 0 in (8.23 m)
Draft	11 feet 2 inches aft, 7 feet 4 inches forward.[2]
Depth of hold	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	120 officers and enlisted
Armament	16 × 24-poundercarronades

USSSyren (laterSiren) was abrig of theUnited States Navy built atPhiladelphia in 1803. She served during theFirst Barbary War and theWar of 1812 until theRoyal Navy captured her in 1814. The British never commissioned her but apparently used her for a year or so as alazaretto, or a prison vessel. She then disappears from records.

Syren was designed by Benjamin Hutton, Jr. of Philadelphia and built for the Navy in 1803 at Philadelphia by shipwright Nathaniel Hutton and launched on 6 August 1803. Capt. Bainbridge supervised her construction. She was commissioned in September and in a letter dated 9 May, 1803 LieutenantCharles Stewart was appointed in command as of her launching, but was appointed to supervise her construction on 28 May.^[3][4][5][6]

She was sharper, but smaller thanUSSArgus (1803), yet carried the samearmament. Both vessels were built the same year for the First Barbary War.

Syren departed Philadelphia on 27 August 1803 passing by Cape Henlopen on 3 September^[7] and reachedGibraltar on 1 October. On 11 October, 1803 inTangier Bay she collided withUSS New York, almost being run down by the frigate, receiving damage to her rigging and losing an anchor.^[8] Three days later she sailed viaLivorno toAlgiers carrying presents and money to theDey of Algiers. just after midnight 29 November while at sea she was caught by a severe storm, being put on her beams ens, filled to the waist with water and her jolly boat destroyed. She then sailed to Algiers, arriving on 21 December and then on toSyracuse, Sicily, where she arrived 28 December, 1804 where repairs were made.^[3][9]

The first actionSyren was involved in was an attack aimed at destroyingUSS Philadelphia, afrigate that had run aground the previous autumn and that Tripolitan gunboats had then captured. To preventPhiladelphia from opposing his planned operations against Tripoli, the commander of the American squadron in theMediterranean,CommodoreEdward Preble, decided to destroy her. To achieve this,Syren andketchIntrepid sailed from Syracuse on 3 February 1804 and proceeded to Tripoli, which they reached on 7 February. However, before the American ships could launch their attack, they were driven off by a violent gale and did not get back off Tripoli until 16 February. Before the attackSyren tied up alongsideIntrepid to transfer some of her crew for the assault onPhiladelphia. AboardIntrepid, under the command ofStephen Decatur, sailors from bothIntrepid andSyren succeeded in burningPhiladelphia. Also present during the assault wasThomas Macdonough ofSyren.^[3][10]

Syren returned to Syracuse on the morning of 19 February. On 5 March she detained a Prussian brig on a voyage from Tunis to Candia with Turkish passengers, she was sent to Malta, arriving same day, where Squadron Commander Preble immediately released her.^[11] On 9 March, she andUSS Nautilus sailed for Tripoli. Soon after their arrival, on 17 March 1804, she captured the Maltese armed brigTransfer belonging toCount Golena.^[12] Stewart tookTransfer into US service and renamed herUSS Scourge.^[13] She then served in the American squadron.^[3] On 20 March she collided withUSS Nautilus, causing damage to Nautilas that she had to return to port.^[14] On 22 MarchSyren captured a Russian flaggedpolacca namedMadonna di Catapoliani or "Madona de Catapolaigne" and sent her to Malta.^[13][15] Capt. Preble ordered her released on 25 March after arrival.^[16] Operations in the Mediterranean during the spring and summer of 1804 and participated in the attacks on Tripoli in August and September 1804. The ship continued to support the squadron's operation against Tripoli which forced the Pasha to accede to American demands. On 2 July, 1805 Master Commandant Stewart turned command over to Master CommandantJohn Smith.^[17] After a peace treaty with Tripoli was signed on 10 June 1805, the brig remained in the Mediterranean for almost a year helping to establish and maintain satisfactory relations with other Barbary States.^[3] On 30 July she was with the U.S. fleet at Tunis.^[18]

The ship sailed for America 28 May, 1806, was off the Capes 25 July and reached theWashington Navy Yard about 1 August.^[19] She was laid upin ordinary there until recommissioned in 1807 and subsequently carried dispatches to France in 1809.^[3] In 1809, her sailing master at the Norfolk Navy Yard wasCaptain John "Mad Jack" Percival.^[20] The following year, her name was changed toSiren.^[21]

Little record has been found of the brig's service during the War of 1812, however small news items appeared in the Salem Gazette and the Boston Gazette.

In May 1813 it was reported that within the space of two days a merchant vessel,Pilgrim, was boarded, first byHMS Herald which was searching forSyren, and then bySyren, which was searching forHerald.Syren was now commanded byLieutenant Joseph Bainbridge.^[22] The following monthSyren left Belize and proceeded to Cuba where after three weeks searching for a Royal Navysloop, probablyHerald, she sailed for the coast of Florida putting in at New Orleans before departing on 9 May 1813. No prizes were taken during this voyage and the ship needed repairs.^[23]

By January 1814Syren was in Massachusetts and was now commanded by Lieutenant Parker,^[24] In February she sailed along with aprivateer,Grand Turk.^[25] Not long after sailing Parker died and command transferred to Lieutenant N.J. Nicholson.^[26]

Syren captured at least three merchant ships off the coast of Africa. On 28 May she captured and burntBarton, Hassler, master, which had been sailing from Africa to Liverpool. Then on 1 JuneSyren capturedAdventure, which too was from Africa to Liverpool. She took-off their cargoes of ivory and sank them. Lastly, at some pointSyren capturedCatherine.^[27]

On 12 July 1814Syren while cruising off the West African coast encountered the British shipHMS Medway a 74-gunthird rateship of the line under the command of CaptainAugustus Brine. Heavily outgunned,Syren attempted to run. After an 11-hour chaseMedway captured her despiteSyren having lightened her load by throwing overboard her guns, anchors and boats.^[28] During her last voyage she had captured or sunk several British merchantmen.^[26][29] Among the prisoners wasSamuel Leech, who later wrote an account of his experiences.

According to Samuel Leech, after being captured the crew ofSyren were taken to the Cape of Good Hope, and after landing at Simonstown, marched to a jail in Cape Town. Here they were held until transferred to England when the war was over. On arriving at Simonstown, other American prisoners were seen to be leaving the jail and being shipped off to Dartmoor. TheSyren crew met these again in England while waiting for transfer to the United States.

After her capture by the Royal Navy she had a figurehead of a mermaid installed.

The Royal Navy used her as alazaretto. She is no longer listed after 1815.^[1]

•  This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.

• Skaggs, David Curtis (2003).Thomas Macdonough: Master of command in the early U.S. Navy. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. p. 257.ISBN 1-55750-839-9.Url
• Winfield, Rif (2008).British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth.ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.

• USSSyren's plans

• Brigs of the United States Navy
• Barbary Wars American ships
• War of 1812 ships of the United States
• Ships built in Philadelphia
• Vessels captured from the United States Navy
• 1803 ships
• Captured ships

• CS1 errors: ISBN date
• CS1 errors: missing title
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships