Battle of Doro Passage
Part ofAegean Anti-Piracy Operation
Greek pirates attacking the British merchant shipComet
Date 16 October 1827 Location Doro Passage,Aegean Sea Result American forces recoverComet
Belligerents
United States	Greekpirates
Commanders and leaders
Benjamin Cooper Louis M. Goldsborough	Unknown
Strength
1schooner	1brig 5mistikos
Casualties and losses
Unknown	~85 killed or wounded 1 brig captured
The British brig was captured by the pirates and liberated by the Americans.

TheBattle of Doro Passage was a naval engagement during theUnited StatesNavy'soperation against Greek pirates in theAegean Sea. On October 16, 1827 aBritish merchant ship was attacked by pirates inDoro Passage off the islands ofAndros andNegroponte but was retaken by American sailors.^[1][2][3]

TheGreek War of Independence shifted the balance of sea power in theMediterranean Sea against theOttoman Empire. This power shift led to a rise in piracy particularly among the Greek islands in the Aegean. In 1825, after several American merchant ships had been attacked, the American navy sent a squadron of warships to protect American interests and persecute pirates.Lieutenant Benjamin Cooper commanded the twelve-gunschoonerUSS Porpoise in October 1827 and was in the process of escorting aconvoy of five American ships and six others fromSmyrna toMalta. At dusk on October 16, the convoy was sailing through Doro Passage when suddenly the wind came to a calm. The BritishbrigComet had fallen behind and drifted away from the rest of the convoy. She was attacked by 200 to 300 Greek pirates in five boats calledmistikos. In general themistikos were small but fast three mastedgalleys armed with onebow gun.^[1][2][3]

The pirates quickly took control ofComet and put most of the crew in chains before attempting to flee back to their islands. The Britishcaptain and some crewmen managed to lower a boat and paddle toPorpoise, which was heading back to findComet after the Americans heard shooting. Lieutenant Conner gave the order to open fire and give chase to the Greek pirates, who were trying to towComet away. However, because of the calm, the sailors had to propel their ship by oars. When rowing failed to close the range, Lieutenant Cooper dispatched four boats with thirty-five men under the command of LieutenantLouis M. Goldsborough. With boats the Americans felt they could close the distance between the two vessels faster and cut out the captured brig. It was now dark, so when the Greeks opened fire on the approaching boats they had trouble hitting their targets. No Americans were hurt throughout the action.^[1][2][3]

During the boarding awardroomsteward killed eleven of the pirates singlehandedly, LieutenantJohn A. Carr killed the pirate leader and several others with his pistol. Ultimately eighty to ninety pirates became casualties and the remaining escaped to shore in their boats. Lieutenant Goldsborough received recognition for winning the largest battle of the American campaign in the Aegean and a message of thanks from the British government.^[1][2][3]

• Golden Age of Piracy

• "Goldsborough, Louis Malesherbes, Rear-Admiral, U.S.N".A Naval Encyclopædia: Comprising a Dictionary of Nautical Words and Phrases; Biographical Notices, and Records of Naval Officers; Special Articles of Naval Art and Science. Philadelphia: L. R. Hamersly & Co. 1881. RetrievedJune 6, 2013.
• Wilson, James Grant; John Fiske, eds. (1888)."Goldsborough, Charles".Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. Volume 2:Crane–Grimshaw. New York: D. Appleton and Company.
• Wombwell, A. James (2010).The Long War Against Piracy: Historical Trends. Volume 32 of Occasional Paper. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press.ISBN 978-0-9823283-6-1.

• 19th-century military history of the United States
• Anti-piracy battles involving the United States
• Military history of the Mediterranean
• October 1827
• Conflicts in 1827
• Naval battles of the Greek War of Independence
• 1827 in Greece

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Greek-language text
• Mediterranean articles missing geocoordinate data
• All articles needing coordinates
• Articles missing coordinates without coordinates on Wikidata