had participated in since 1789 however had left the Empire on the verge of bankruptcy, and most of these ships were sold or abandoned for financial reasons. By the end of the decade however, the Austrian Navy began to be rebuilt. The growth of the Austrian Navy in the years following the Congress of Vienna were largely driven by political necessities, as well economic conditions. The marriage between Archduchess Maria Leopoldina and Emperor Pedro I of Brazil in 1817 marked the first time a ship from the Austrian Navy crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas, with the Archduchess traveling with the frigates Augusta and Austria to Rio de Janeiro. Three years later, the frigate Carolina escorted Austria's ambassador to Brazil across the Atlantic, before sailing on to China, marking the first time a ship from the Austrian Navy had traveled to East Asia. During the 1820s and early 1830s, Austrian trade along the Danube and within the Mediterranean grew rapidly. In 1830, the Austrian Danube Steam Navigation Company was founded and in 1834, its steamship Marie Dorothee became the first of its kind to travel the Mediterranean on a voyage between Trieste and Constantinople. In 1836, the Austrian Lloyd (German: Österreichischer Lloyd) was established. While Austria's merchant marine grew throughout the 1820s and 1830s, the Austrian Navy grew alongside it in order to provide protection on the high seas. During the Greek War of Independence, the Austrian Navy engaged Greek pirates who routinely attempted to attack Austrian shipping in order to help fund the Greek rebellion against Ottoman rule. During the same time period, Barbary corsairs continued to prey upon Austrian shipping in the Western Mediterranean. These two threats greatly stretched the resources of Austria's naval forces, which were still rebuilding after the Napoleonic Wars. In 1829, two Austrian corvettes, a brig, and a schooner under Lieutenant Commander (German: Korvettenkapitän) Franz Bandiera sailed Morocco's Atlantic coast to obtain the release of an Austrian merchant ship which had been captured by pirates. While the mission resulted in the return of the ship's crew, the Moroccans refused to return the ship, resulting in the Austrian bombardment of Larache. This action resulted in Morocco returning the captured Austrian ship, as well as pay damages to Vienna. The bombardment of Larache resulted in the end of North African pirates raiding Austrian shipping in the Mediterranean Sea. By the 1830s, an attempt to modernize