Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 16, 2011

USS President was a 44-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She was one of the original six frigates whose construction was authorized by the Naval Act of 1794. Launched on 10 April 1800, she was the last to be completed. Her first duties with the newly formed United States Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War. On 16 May 1811 President was at the center of the Little Belt Affair, when her crew mistakenly identified HMS Little Belt as HMS Guerriere, which was sought after for impressing an American seaman. The ships exchanged cannon fire for several minutes; Little Belt was heavily damaged. Subsequent U.S. and Royal Navy investigations placed responsibility for the attack on each other with no resolution. The incident contributed to tensions between the U.S. and Great Britain that led to the War of 1812. (more...)

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