Джеймс Биддл: Американский коммодор и его служба

American commodore

James Biddle (February 18, 1783 – October 1, 1848), of the Biddle family, brother of financier Nicholas Biddle and nephew of Capt. Nicholas Biddle, was an American commodore. His flagship was Columbus.

Biddle was born in Philadelphia, where he attended the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, he entered service in the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1800. Retained in the navy reduction of 1801, Biddle served in the war against the Barbary pirates. The ship he was in, Philadelphia, struck rocks off Tripoli, and along with his commodore, William Bainbridge, he was kept imprisoned for 19 months. During the War of 1812, Biddle was first lieutenant in Wasp. He was in command of the sloop Hornet in 1815 when she defeated In 1817, he was sent to the Columbia River in Ontario to formally take over the Oregon Country for the United States, which was completed in 1818. After the war, Biddle performed various duties in the Gulf of Mexico, the South Atlantic, and the Mediterranean. In 1830, Biddle and US consul David Offly negotiated and concluded a treaty with the Sublime Porte. The treaty was later used by U. S. diplomats to claim extraterritorial privileges for U. S. citizens in the Ottoman Empire.

In the early nineteenth century, the prevalence of yellow fever in the Caribbean "led to serious health problems" and alarmed the United States Navy as numerous deaths and sickness curtailed naval operations and destroyed morale. A tragic example occurred in May 1822 when the frigate USS Macedonian left Boston and became part of Commodore James Biddle's West Indies Squadron. Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson had assigned the squadron to guard United States merchant shipping and suppress piracy. During their deployment seventy six of the Macedonian officers and men died. Seventy four of these deaths were attributed to yellow fever. Biddle reported another fifty two of his crew were on sick list. In his report to the Secretary of the Navy, Biddle and Surgeon's Mate Dr. Charles Chase state the cause as "fever". As a consequence of this loss Biddle noted his squadron was forced to return to Norfolk Navy Yard early. The Macedonian crew upon arrival were provided medical care and quarantined at Craney Island. Biddle upset at the loss of his crew wrote Smith Thompson " how deeply my feelings have been afflicted at the disturbing mortality & sickness and I hope you will order an investigation into the cause of the sickness on board." Biddle told Thompson the Macedonian had been improperly fitted out in Boston and while there, the frigate's hold was never properly cleaned and that the filth and debris he discovered in the hold had led to the fever. Biddle consequently brought charges against Commodore Isaac Hull then in command at the Boston Naval Yard. Medical testimony during a court of inquiry however supported the conclusion that a drastic change in temperatures, dampness and tropical climate were the proximate cause of the fever, and "Much to Biddle's chagrin the court of inquiry found Hull not guilty."