Engagements and Prizes: USS Constitution USS Constitution as involved in over 30 engagements during her most active sailing days (1798–1855), which included three wars—the Quasi War with France (1798–1801), the Barbary Wars (1801–1805), and the War of 1812; she was never defeated in battle. The following is a list of engagements and prizes:   1798 September 8   Niger British privateer   (a privately owned vessel armed with guns which operated in time of war against the trade of an enemy)     1799 January 16   Spencer French vessel     1799 March 27   Neutrality French schooner   (a vessel rigged with fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts, and originally carried square topsails on the foremast)         1799 April 3   Carteret French packet   (a vessel sailing regularly between two ports carrying mail, but also available to carry passengers and goods)         1799 September 15   Amelia French vessel         1800 February 1   Swift American trafficker   (a ship carrying on a trade in a Schooner particular item, usually contraband)         1800 May 8   Ester French privateer, schooner         1800 May 8   Nymph French brig   (a two masted vessel, square-rigged on both fore and main masts)         1800 May 9   Sally American trafficker, sloop   (a vessel with a single mast, fore- and-aft rigged)         1800 May 10   Sandwich French letter of marque   (a license issued by a government, authorizing a vessel to privateer under recognized flag)         1804 September 11   _____ Ottoman polacre   (a ship or brig particular to the Mediterranean)         1804 September 11   _____ Ottoman polacre   blockade runner         1805 April 24   _____ Tunisian xebec   (a small 3-masted vessel used exclusively in the Mediterranean. Similar to the polacre, but with a distinctive hull)         1805 April 24   _____ Tunisian vessel         1805 April 24   _____ Tunisian vessel         1810 May   Golconda American trafficker         1810 May   Rose American trafficker         1812 August 10   Lady Warren British, brig         1812 August 11   Adiona British, brig         1812 August 15   Adelina British, brig         1812 August 15   _____ Brisith, brig         1812 August 19   HMS Guerriere British frigate   (a 3-masted vessel, with square sails on all masts, and carrying guns on at least one covered gun deck)         1812 Novmber 9   South Carolina American, British licensed, brig         1812 December 29   HMS Java British, frigate         1814 February 14   Lovely Ann British merchant         1814 February 14   HMS Pictou British, war schooner         1814 February 17   Phoenix British, schooner         1814 Februrary 19   Catherine British, brig         1814 December 24   Lord Nelson British, brig         1815 February 18   Susanna British vessel         1815 February 20   HMS Cyane British, frigate         1815 February 20   HMS Levant British corvette   (a flush-decked war ship with a single tier of guns, smaller than a frigate but square-rigged on 3 masts)         1853 November 3   H.N. Gambrill American, slaver                 For Further Reading   Allison, Robert J. The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776–1815. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1995.   Beach, Edward L. The United States Navy: A 200 Year History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.   Dudley, William S. and Michael J. Crawford eds. The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History. 2 vols. Washington: Naval Historical Center, 1985.   Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: The Forgotten Conflict. Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1989.   Kemp, Peter, ed. The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1993.   Martin, Tyrone G. A Most Fortunate Ship. Annapolis, Maryland: The Naval Institute Press, 1997.   Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1935.   Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers. Washington, D.C.: United States Printing Office, 1939.