she got underway into the harbor, but she exploded prematurely, killing Somers and his entire crew. Legacy News of Somers' death would take some months to arrive to the United States, with newspapers in New York and New Jersey reporting on the assault in January 1805. Some reports suggested the premature detonation to be a deliberate act by Somers to avoid capture by approaching sailors, an account which led to Somers' depiction as a martyr within the American Navy. However, the true reasons for the explosion remain unclear and no reliable account is known from the Intrepid final moments. Somers is buried in Tripoli, alongside the bodies of other sailors recovered from the explosion. In 2004, the New Jersey State Assembly passed two resolutions calling for the return of his remains. It was hoped that with the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya in August 2011 that the remains might finally be repatriated, but efforts by diplomatic staff and distant relatives of Somers in the United States remain unsuccessful as of 2015. Since 1804, six ships of the US Navy have successively been named the USS Somers in his honor. The town of Somers, New York, located in Westchester County is named in his honor. Somers Point, New Jersey, is named after Richard's great-grandfather. Every year there is a Richard Somers Day celebration in Somers Point. See also Tripoli Monument References United States Navy officers American military personnel of the Quasi-War American military personnel of the First Barbary War American military personnel killed in action People from Atlantic County, New Jersey 1770s births 1804 deaths Military personnel from New Jersey