Richard Somers, Master Commandant
August 2, 2012
An Educational Venue
for former U.S.S. Intrepid (CV, CVA, CVS-11) Crewmembers
Chapter IV
– Richard Somers, Master Commandant –
Richard Somers (1778 or 1779– September 4, 1804)
Born at Great Egg Harbor, NJ he attended school in Philadelphia with future naval heroes Stephen Decatur and Charles Stewart. He was appointed midshipman on 25 April 1797 and served in the West Indies during the Quasi-War with France on the frigate United States with Decatur and Stewart, a ship commanded by Captain John Barry.
Promoted to lieutenant on 21 May 1799, Somers was detached from the United States on 13 June 1801 and ordered to the Boston on 30 July 1801. He served on the latter frigate in the Mediterranean. After Boston returned to Washington, DC, Somers was furloughed on 11 November 1802 to await orders.
On 5 May 1803, Somers was ordered to Baltimore, MD, to man, fit out, and command the USS Nautilus, and when that schooner was ready for sea, to sail her to the Mediterranean. The Nautilus got underway on 30 June, reached Gibraltar on 27 July, and sailed four days later to Spain. He then returned to Gibraltar to meet Commodore Edward Preble, aboard the Constitution, who was bringing a new squadron for action against the Barbary pirates.
The Nautilus sailed with Preble on 6 October to Tangier where the display of American naval strength induced the Europeans of Morocco to renew the treaty of 1786. Thereafter, Tripoli became the focus of Preble’s attention.
Somers’ service as commanding officer of the Nautilus during operations against Tripoli won him promotion to Master Commandant on 18 May 1804. In the summer, he commanded a division of gunboats during five attacks on Tripoli, during the First Barbary War.
On 4 September 1804, Somers assumed command of fire ship Intrepid which had been fitted out as a “floating volcano” to be sailed into Tripoli harbor and blown up in the midst of the corsair fleet close under the walls of the city. That night, she got underway into the harbor, but she exploded prematurely, killing Somers and his entire crew of volunteers.
Somers is buried in Tripoli, Libya. In 2004, the New Jersey state assembly passed two resolutions calling for the return of his remains. It is hoped that with the fall of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime in Libya in August 2011 that the effort to repatriate the remains will finally be successful.
Since 1804, six ships of the US Navy have successively been named the USS Somers in his honor.The town of Somers, NY, located in Westchester County is named in his honor. Somers Point, NJ, is named after Richard’s great-grandfather.
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Somers
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Intrepid Project Works To Return Intrepid Sailors To United States
The bodies of five New York sailors who were killed when the first USS Intrepid sank back in 1804 may at last be returned to American soil thanks to improved relations between the United States and Libya, but tension between advocates and the Navy could bring things to a halt.
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The bodies of five New York sailors who were killed when the first USS Intrepid sank back in 1804 may – hopefully – be returned to American soil, but tension between advocates and the Navy could bring things to a halt.
The United States didn’t send Americans to fight in Libya this last time, but they did two centuries ago. Some never came home.
“I only have one hero in my family. I would like to visit his grave,” says Dean Somers, a descendent of Captain Richard Somers, who led a crew of 13 men, including five sailors who enlisted in New York City.
In 1804, the Intrepid was loaded with explosives to repel Barbary pirates attacking merchant ships. It blew up, either from an enemy cannon, or an intentionally lit fuse to escape capture.
The sailors’ bodies washed ashore. They were fed on by dogs. Most ended up in communal graves long left in disrepair.
“I saw the pictures of the graves and I heard the story of how they were treated, and I’m just not able to sleep at night until these men come home,” says Michael Caputo of the Intrepid Project.
The cause has attracted a motley crew that includes Caputo, who ran the campaign of Carl Paladino, the failed GOP candidate for governor. On the other side of this issue has been an unlikely opponent…the United States Navy.
Officials have said they would consider the men’s final resting spot, adding that the cemetery is being renovated.
Congress has been expecting to force the Navy to begin a nine-month study into the feasibility of bringing the remains home. Some say that may not be good enough.
“We think we have a window, but we don’t know what a future government will look like. We don’t know what their relationship will be like with the United States. We don’t know if they will be friendly,” says New Jersey Representative Frank Lobiondo.
And the Somers family says their demand has always been a U.S. burial.
For years after Somers’ death, his sister asked that his body be returned from Tripoli and be reinterred at the family plot in New Jersey. Her wish was unfulfilled at the time of her own death, so she asked that a marker in memory of her brother be placed next to her grave.
“I could come and be here and visit it. It’s home for him,” says Somers.
The others sailors may never be paired with their descendants, but under the plan, the nation could honor their service with a burial at Arlington National Cemetery to return deceased sailor to the U.S..
Ref: http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/political_news/152481/ny1-exclusive–intrepid-project-works-
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Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Intrepid_(1798)
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This Educational Venue is for former Intrepid Crewmembers
who served …’with pride and dedication’
The Intrepid is Born again
August 2, 2012
An Educational Venue
for former U.S.S. Intrepid (CV, CVA, CVS-11) Crewmembers
Chapter I
– INTREPID is Born Again –
The 4th Intrepid was launched 26 April ’43, by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, VA.
She was the 4th Essex-class aircraft carrier to be launched and was sponsored by the wife of Vice Admiral John H. Hoover. On 16 August ’43, she was commissioned with Captain Thomas L. Sprague in command before heading to the Caribbean for shakedown and training missions.
Intrepid‘s motto was “In Mare In Coelo” (“In the Sea In Heaven“) or “On the Sea (and) In the Sky“.
On October 2, ’08, it was the “Dawn of a New Era” for Intrepid. She was on her way to re-open as the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum located at Pier 86 on the Hudson River located at 12th Ave. & 46th Street in New York.
The Intrepid Museum features a range of interactive exhibits and events providing a snapshot of Intrepid’s service history to our nation, heroism, education and excitement.
The Intrepid is dedicated to the exhibition and interpretation of history, science and service as related to its home aboard the USS Intrepid, a National Historic Landmark.
As you explore the Museum you will be able to examine original artifacts, view historic video footage, and explore interactive exhibits. Visitors can also ride in the A-6 Cockpit Simulator, visit the Virtual Flight Zone and tour the inside of the world’s fastest commercial airplane, Concorde and see the Museum’s new addition – coming soon – the space shuttle Enterprise that will be positioned in the Museum’s new Space Shuttle Pavilion located on Intrepid’s flight deck.
Intrepid fought valiantly in WWII, survived 3 tours off Vietnam and played a vital role in submarine surveillance during the Cold War. She also escaped a grim fate.
For all their storied years and accomplished missions in the fleet, Navy ships are eventually decommissioned. With no mission nor crew, these ships are either adopted by a foreign military or abandoned for scrapping, sometimes forgotten for years in a ‘moth-ball’d’ or ‘ghost fleet’ decaying from the inside out before they’re sold for scrap.
Intrepid was decommissioned after WWII, missed being scrapped and actually made her way back into service over the years. The Intrepid Museum now serves our nation as a venue providing the history of Intrepid, while also providing loving memories – not just for some of those who served her with pride and dedication, and still serve her as volunteers – but also for all former Intrepid crewmembers, many who still make an attempt to visit their once ‘home-away-from-home’.
There are many sections of Intrepid open to the public that have been restored & maintained. Restoration costs are expensive so vast portions of Intrepid still remain un-restored and as they were when the ship left naval service in ’74. Some areas of Intrepid have been untouched for nearly 40 years.
Exploring these areas, Intrepid is seen as it was when President Nixon was neck-deep in the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam war still waged, and when the Intrepid was finally decommissioned. Well – maybe not just as it was then…after all, 4 decades have taken their toll on the 69 year old carrier, but – there were…and still may be – enough old personal items around to make one feel like the crew had just left.
Ref: Numerous USS Intrepid Website sources
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If you would like to continue receiving future ‘Educational Venues’ by email, please email your request to Former Intrepid Crewmember and Past USS Intrepid Association President, (’03-’05) John Simonetti at cv11texfcm@gmail.com with the following message…‘Continue EV Chapters’
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This Educational Venue is for former Intrepid Crewmembers
who served ’With pride and dedication’
OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING … A VETERAN DIED TODAY
The USS Intrepid Remembered
Intrepid was launched on 26 April 1943 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, the fifth Essex-classaircraft carrier to be launched. She was sponsored by the wife of Vice AdmiralJohn H. Hoover. On 16 August 1943, she was commissioned with CaptainThomas L. Sprague in command before heading to the Caribbean for shakedown and training. Intrepid‘s motto upon setting sail was “In Mare In Coelo”, which means “In the Sea In Heaven” or “On the Sea (and) In the Sky”.
Service history
World War II
Intrepid has one of the most distinguished service records of any Navy ship, seeing active service in the Pacific Theater including the Marshall Islands, Truk, Leyte Gulf, and Okinawa. At war’s end, she was in Enewetak
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