USS Argus (1803)

Argus during the War of 1812
History
United States
Name	USS Merrimack
Namesake	The Merrimack River in Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Ordered	29 April 1803
Builder	Edmund Hartt
Cost	$37,428
Laid down	12 May 1803
Launched	31 August 1803
Commissioned	6 September 1803
Renamed	USS Argus 4 June 1803
Namesake	Argus Panoptes, in Greek mythology a monster with a hundred eyes slain by the messenger of the gods Hermes
Launched	21 August 1803
Commissioned	August or September 1803
Out of service	1806 (in ordinary)
In service	1807 (returned to full commission)
Fate	Captured 14 August 1813
General characteristics
Type	Brig
Tons burthen	299 (bm)
Length	Gun-deck: 94 ft 6 in (28.80 m) Keel: 77 ft (23 m)
Beam	28 ft 2 in (8.59 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	142 officers and enlisted
Armament	2 × 12-pounder guns 18 × 24-pounder carronades

The first USS Argus, originally named USS Merrimack, was a brig in the United States Navy commissioned in 1803. She enforced the Embargo Act of 1807 and fought in the First Barbary War – taking part in the blockade of Tripoli and the capture of Derna – and the War of 1812. During the latter conflict, she had been audaciously raiding British merchant shipping in British home waters for a month, when the heavier British Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Pelican intercepted her. After a sharp fight during which Argus's captain, Master Commandant William Henry Allen, was mortally wounded, Argus surrendered when the crew of Pelican were about to board.