First Barbary War: Mediterranean Squadron 1801-1803.
This expansion is composed of the ships that were part of the US Mediterranean Squadron between 1801 and 1803; in a future expansion, we will add the remaining ships that were part of the squadron between 1803 and 1806.
The Barbary corsairs hit the Mediterranean coast. Capture of merchant ships in order to seize their goods and enslave their crew; this activity generated a lot of revenue for the Barbary states. Before the Treaty of Paris, United States shipping was protected by France during the revolutionary years under the Treaty of Alliance (1778–83).
Beginning in 1784, American merchant ships became targets for Barbary corsairs; the brigantine Betsey was the first American merchantman captured, being captured by Moroccan pirates on October 11, 1784. The Spanish government negotiated the release of the captured ship and crew; however, Spain advised the United States to offer tribute to prevent further attacks on merchant ships. The United States tried to get a treaty to prevent the attack on their merchant ships, but the negotiations were not fruitful due to the large sums of money demanded by the Barbary states. Over the next few years, numerous merchant ships were captured, turning American sailors into slaves. The news of the difficult living conditions of the Americans transcended public opinion, and during 1794 and 1795, funds were allocated to pay the ransom for the liberation of enslaved sailors. A kind of treaty was achieved in which tribute was paid to prevent the attack on American merchant ships, but the economic demands of the Barbary states were less and less liked by the Senate, and there was beginning to be opposition to the payment of those tributes. The continuing demand for tribute ultimately led to the formation of the United States Department of the Navy, founded in 1798 to prevent further attacks upon American shipping and to end the demands for extremely large tributes from the Barbary States. With the arrival of Jefferson to the presidency, the payment of these tributes was stopped, and the first squadron of U.S. Navy ships was sent to the Mediterranean to defend merchant ships, initiating what is known as the First Barbary War, also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War.
The expansion package consists of:
MEDITERRANEAN SQUADRON 1801 - 1802
- USS BOSTON (1799) 28-GUN.
- USS ESSEX (1799) 32-GUN / USS ESSEX (1814).
- USS GERORGE WASHINGTON (1798) 24-GUN.
- USS PRESIDENT (1798) 44-GUN / HMS PRESIDENT (1815).
- USS PHILADELPHIA (1799) 36-GUN.
- USS ENTERPRISE (1799) 14-GUN.
MEDITERRANEAN SQUADRON 1802 - 1803
- USS ADAMS (1799) 28-GUN.
- USS CHESAPEAKE (1799) 38-GUN / HMS CHESAPEAKE (1813).
- USS CONSTELLATION (1797) 38-GUN.
- USS JHON ADAMS (1799) 28-GUN.
- USS NEW YORK (1800) 36-GUN.
Designed by Saturnalia Studios. Scale 1:650. Optimized for FDM printing and easy painting.
Also includes combat sails, masts without sails and game card (Fire and Sails game).
