Finally, Jefferson lost patience and sent the Constitution as flagship of a new American fleet to put an end to the matter.

The Bashaw of Tripoli, as its ruler was then called, captured one of the American ships, the “Philadelphia,” which had run aground. A young American lieutenant named Stephen Decatur entered history by sneaking into Tripoli harbor with his men to board and burn the Philadelphia to keep her out of pirate hands.

American blockades and bombardments followed. Then, what historian Samuel Eliot Morison called a “motley expeditionary force” of 16 Marines and sailors, 40 Greeks, a s...

Finally, Jefferson lost patience and sent the Constitution as flagship of a new American fleet to put an end to the matter.

The Bashaw of Tripoli, as its ruler was then called, captured one of the American ships, the “Philadelphia,” which had run aground. A young American lieutenant named Stephen Decatur entered history by sneaking into Tripoli harbor with his men to board and burn the Philadelphia to keep her out of pirate hands.

American blockades and bombardments followed. Then, what historian Samuel Eliot Morison called a “motley expeditionary force” of 16 Marines and sailors, 40 Greeks, a squadron of Arab cavalry, a 100 “nondescripts and a fleet of camels,” made an end run to attack the pirates by land. The Marine Corp hymn commemorates that feat with the words “to the shores of Tripoli.”

Today, piracy has moved around the corner to the horn of Africa. The Somali pirates are nowhere near a formidable as were the Barbary pirates of yore, but they are a considerable nuisance and may yet force an important part of the world’s commerce to forgo the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal to sail around the Cape of Good Hope. It is estimated that this would add 20 to 25 percent on to fuel bills and a week to the passage to America. Even then ships might not be safe as pirates are moving farther and farther out into the Indian Ocean.

“Somali pirates are in the process of closing down perhaps one of the most important sea trade routes in the world,” said Soren Skou of the giant Danish shipping company, Maersk.

“This is not something the shipping industry can handle on its own. We need international solutions, enough navy assets , cooperation between fleets,” he added.

These words were said some moths ago before Maersk almost lost its American-flagged container ship “Alabama.”