SHIP'S NAMESAKE

Named after a joint land-sea operation against Derna during the war between the United States and the Barbary state of Tripoli, which resulted in the capture of that fortress city on 27 April 1805. William H. Eaton, the American naval agent in the Barbary states, led a force of some 300 Arabs and Bedouins, about 70 Greek mercenaries, and eight US Marines in storming the Tripolitan defensive positions. Gunfire from United States warships Hornet, Nautilus, and Argus, under Master Commandant Isaac Hull, and the valor of the Marines, commanded by Lt. Presley Neville O'Bannon, USMC, were instrumental in achieving the American victory which has been immortalized by the phrase from the Marine Corps hymn, "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli."