carried out. Chesapeake first put to sea on 22 May commanded by Captain Samuel Barron and marked her departure from Norfolk with a 13-gun salute. Her first assignment was to carry currency from Charleston, South Carolina, to Philadelphia. On 6 June she joined a squadron patrolling off the southern coast of the United States and in the West Indies escorting American merchant ships. Capturing the 16-gun French privateer La Jeune Creole on 1 January 1801 after a chase lasting 50 hours, she returned to Norfolk with her prize on 15 January. Chesapeake returned briefly to the West Indies in February, soon after a peace treaty was ratified with France. She returned to Norfolk and decommissioned on 26 February, subsequently being placed in reserve. First Barbary War During the Quasi-War, the United States had paid tribute to the Barbary States to ensure that they would not seize or harass American merchant ships. In 1801 Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli, dissatisfied with the amount of tribute he received in comparison to that paid to Algiers, demanded an immediate payment of $250,000. Thomas Jefferson responded by sending a squadron of warships to protect American merchant ships in the Mediterranean and to pursue peace negotiations with the Barbary States. The first squadron was under the command of Richard Dale in President and the second was assigned to the command of Richard Valentine Morris in Chesapeake. Morris's squadron eventually consisted of the vessels Constellation, , , , and . It took several months to prepare the vessels for sea; they departed individually as they became ready. Chesapeake sailed from Hampton Roads on 27 April 1802 and arrived at Gibraltar on 25 May; she immediately put in for repairs, as her main mast had split during the voyage. Morris remained at Gibraltar while awaiting word on the location of his squadron, as several ships had not reported in. On 22 July Adams arrived with belated orders for Morris, dated 20 April. Those were to "lay the whole squadron before Tripoli" and negotiate peace. Chesapeake and Enterprise departed Gibraltar on 17 August bound for Leghorn, while providing protection for a convoy of merchant ships that were bound for intermediate ports. Morris made several stops in various ports before finally arriving at Leghorn on 12 October, after which he sailed to Malta. Chesapeake undertook repairs of a rotted bowsprit. Chesapeake was still in port when John Adams arrived on