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Macedonian I (Frigate)

1812-1828

The U.S. Navy retained the name carried by this prize at the time of her capture.

I

(Frigate: tonnage 1,325; length 161'6"; beam 40'0"; depth of hold 18'4"; complement 306; armament 38 guns)

The first Macedonian, sometimes spelled Macendonian, a 38‑gun frigate, was built in Great Britain in September 1810; captured off the Canary Islands by 44‑gun frigate United States, Commodore Stephen Decatur in command, 25 October 1812; arrived in New London, Conn., as a prize on 4 December 1812; and taken into service by April 1813, Capt. Jacob Jones in command.

Macedonian made one futile attempt with United States and sloop Hornet to break the British blockade by way of Hell Gate, N.Y., on 24 May 1813. She then remained in the Thames River, Conn., until the end of the War of 1812.

On 20 May 1815 she departed for the Mediterranean to join Commodore Decatur's 10‑ship squadron in the Algerian War, a renewal of naval action against the Barbary powers, to stop harassment of American shipping. On 17 June the frigate assisted in the capture of Algerian flagship, frigate Mashuda by frigates Constellation and Guerriere, and sloops‑of‑war Epervier and Ontario.

The signing of a treaty with Tunis and Tripoli on 7 August 1815, following that with Algeria in June, won maritime freedom in the Mediterranean. The next three years Macedonian patrolled there and off the East Coast.

From January 1819 to March 1821 the frigate operated off the Pacific coast of South America, giving aid and protection to the commercial ships in the area during the disorders in the wake of the Latin colonial revolts, before returning to Boston in June 1821. She next cruised in the West Indies helping to suppress piracy, into 1826.

On 11 June 1826 Macedonian departed Norfolk for service on the Pacific Station, returning to Hampton Roads, Va., 30 October 1828. She was decommissioned in 1828 and was broken up at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia.

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

10 May 2022

Published: Tue May 10 08:30:31 EDT 2022