were located about east of Matanzas. She took the master and mate of the captured schooner on board and set sail to reclaim the American ships. She arrived at her destination at dawn on 9 November and found the pirates in possession of one ship, two brigs, and five schooners. Alligator launched armed boats which gave chase to a heavily armed schooner that opened fire with five of her guns and commenced a battle. The boats from Alligator pressed home their attack and soon overhauled the schooner which they boarded in a mad rush. In the short, but sharp, fight, Alligator lost her commanding officer, Lieutenant William H. Allen, wounded mortally by two musket balls. The captured vessel, of 80 tons (bm), was armed with one long 18-pounder gun on a pivot, and with four smaller guns. US casualties amounted to eight men killed and wounded. Soon thereafter, boats from Alligator captured all the pirate vessels except one schooner that managed to escape. Most of the pirates fled ashore. Alligator recaptured William and Henry, which had been on her way from New York to New Orleans when captured, the brigs Iris and Sarah, from Boston to New Orleans, the schooner Argo, from Salem, and Nancy and Mary, of Boston. On 18 November 1822, Alligator, Lieutenant Dale, commanding, departed Matanzas for Norfolk, while escorting a convoy. Before dawn the following morning, she ran hard aground on what is now known as Alligator Reef off the coast of Florida. After working desperately to refloat their ship, officers and crewmen gave up on a hopeless task. On 21 November they spied a vessel, and made signals of distress. The vessel took the survivors off. On 23 November 1822, before they left, they set fire to Alligator, which soon blew up. The wreck lies at See also List of historical schooners USS Ferret (1822) (Anti piracy schooner) Notes, citations, and references Notes Citations References External links Monroe County listings at National Register of Historic Places Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs USS Alligator U.S. Navy & Confederate Shipwreck Project – USS Alligator USS Alligator, off the coast of the Florida Keys at National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service Remote-Sensing Survey for the Remains of the USS Alligator – NOAA Maritime incidents in November 1822 National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Florida Shipwrecks of the Florida Keys Shipwrecks on the