A U.S. naval fleet had been sent on May 13, 1801, at the beginning of the war under the command of Commodore Richard Dale.

Other notable officers in the fleet include Stephen Decatur, assigned to the frigate USS Essex and William Bainbridge in command of Essex, which was attached to Commodore Richard Dale's squadron which also includes Philadelphia, President and Enterprise.

The schooner Enterprise (1799) captures the fourteen-gun Tripolitan corsair polacca Tripoli off the north African coast in a single-ship action on August 1, 1801.