Libya Violence Raises New Concerns for Navy Remains
Visit the Official Intrepid Project Website at http://intrepidproject.org/home.php
by Sally Hastings, Director, Intrepid Project
SOMERS POINT, N.J., Sept. 13. 2012 – The Intrepid Project today renewed its call for the repatriation of the remains of the 13 crew of the first USS Intrepid buried in Libya following attacks on U.S. diplomats that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
“This heinous action only heightens our concern for the remains of Richard Somers and his brave crewmen,” said Sally Hastings, Director of the Intrepid Project. “The tragic death of Ambassador Stevens removes a powerful advocate for American interests in that part of the world and points to the utter lack of security of American properties in Libya. We believe it is past the time to recover the remains of Master Commandant Somers and his crew and bring them home after 208 years.”
Richard Somers led a group of 13 sailors on one of the first special operations raids in U.S. Navy history the night of Sept. 4, 1804. The goal was the destruction of a pirate fleet lying at anchor in Tripoli harbor. Somers converted the first USS Intrepid – a small sailing vessel – into a floating bomb and attempted to sneak into the harbor. The pirates discovered the vessel and opened fire. The Intrepid disintegrated in a shattering explosion. The bodies floated ashore the next day, where packs of wild dogs gnawed on the remains. They were eventually buried by American prisoners of the Philadelphia. Of the 13 crew, five were from Maryland, five from New York, with the others coming from Maine, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
The graves of the officers later became the foundation of a diplomatic cemetery in Tripoli. Road workers moved the remains of the enlisted men to the cemetery in the 1920s after discovering the enlisted men’s remains near the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
The families of Richard Somers and his second officer, Henry Wadsworth of Maine, began lobbying the government in the 1830s to recover the remains of the crew from Libya. The government took action then and continues to block the efforts of the families to recover the remains of their heroic forebears. In 2011, legislation that would have mandated the recovery and return of the remains died in the Senate when Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert moved to block an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.
“The senseless murder of Ambassador Stevens is a tragic loss for our nation,” Hastings said. “It also proves that neither the Navy nor the State Department can ensure the safety of American interests in Libya. It is vital that we recover the remains of the 13 heroes that died on the Intrepid and return them to the United States where they can finally receive the honors they deserve.”
Hastings also said she fears the cemetery in which the American remains lie could suffer the same type of desecration as the Commonwealth Cemetery near Tobruk, Libya. A mob destroyed numerous graves of soldiers who died in battle in World War II and ripped up Australian, British and New Zealand flags when it attacked the cemetery earlier this year.
“It is of the utmost importance that we don’t allow the graves of our sailors and ancestors to suffer the fate of those brave Australian soldiers,” Hastings said. “It is past the time for own government not only to recognize the heroic sacrifice of the crew of the first USS Intrepid but to finally heed the calls of the descendants of these men for their return.”
The Intrepid Project is an ad-hoc, all-volunteer organization dedicated to the repatriation of the crew of the first USS Intrepid. The committee includes representatives from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and AMVETS, the three largest veterans’ organizations in the U.S.
For more information, contact:
sphs55@yahoo.com
Chipp Reid: 443-837-6538
“This heinous action only heightens our concern for the remains of Richard Somers and his brave crewmen,” said Sally Hastings, Director of the Intrepid Project. “The tragic death of Ambassador Stevens removes a powerful advocate for American interests in that part of the world and points to the utter lack of security of American properties in Libya. We believe it is past the time to recover the remains of Master Commandant Somers and his crew and bring them home after 208 years.”
Richard Somers led a group of 13 sailors on one of the first special operations raids in U.S. Navy history the night of Sept. 4, 1804. The goal was the destruction of a pirate fleet lying at anchor in Tripoli harbor. Somers converted the first USS Intrepid – a small sailing vessel – into a floating bomb and attempted to sneak into the harbor. The pirates discovered the vessel and opened fire. The Intrepid disintegrated in a shattering explosion. The bodies floated ashore the next day, where packs of wild dogs gnawed on the remains. They were eventually buried by American prisoners of the Philadelphia. Of the 13 crew, five were from Maryland, five from New York, with the others coming from Maine, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
The graves of the officers later became the foundation of a diplomatic cemetery in Tripoli. Road workers moved the remains of the enlisted men to the cemetery in the 1920s after discovering the enlisted men’s remains near the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
The families of Richard Somers and his second officer, Henry Wadsworth of Maine, began lobbying the government in the 1830s to recover the remains of the crew from Libya. The government took action then and continues to block the efforts of the families to recover the remains of their heroic forebears. In 2011, legislation that would have mandated the recovery and return of the remains died in the Senate when Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert moved to block an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.
“The senseless murder of Ambassador Stevens is a tragic loss for our nation,” Hastings said. “It also proves that neither the Navy nor the State Department can ensure the safety of American interests in Libya. It is vital that we recover the remains of the 13 heroes that died on the Intrepid and return them to the United States where they can finally receive the honors they deserve.”
Hastings also said she fears the cemetery in which the American remains lie could suffer the same type of desecration as the Commonwealth Cemetery near Tobruk, Libya. A mob destroyed numerous graves of soldiers who died in battle in World War II and ripped up Australian, British and New Zealand flags when it attacked the cemetery earlier this year.
“It is of the utmost importance that we don’t allow the graves of our sailors and ancestors to suffer the fate of those brave Australian soldiers,” Hastings said. “It is past the time for own government not only to recognize the heroic sacrifice of the crew of the first USS Intrepid but to finally heed the calls of the descendants of these men for their return.”
The Intrepid Project is an ad-hoc, all-volunteer organization dedicated to the repatriation of the crew of the first USS Intrepid. The committee includes representatives from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and AMVETS, the three largest veterans’ organizations in the U.S.
For more information, contact:
sphs55@yahoo.com
Chipp Reid: 443-837-6538
To View the official Intrepid Project Site, please click here.