International Journal of Maritime History 18:1 (2006): 485–86.
Although its bicentennial anniversary has recently come and gone, the 1801–1805 war between the United States and Tripoli remains an obscure episode in American military and diplomatic history. This is unfortunate for a number of reasons. The war was the nation’s first protracted conflict following independence, and apart from the Indian Wars, it was the longest war fought by the United States before Vietnam. Given that the US Navy was brought into being in anticipation of just such a war, how naval administration, strategy and tactics evolved in its earliest years offers ample opportunity for the discerning historian.