his procedures to heart at a time when the US Navy was highly unregulated. Many of Preble's procedures became doctrine after the establishment of an official US Navy. The officers serving under him during his career also went on to become influential in the Navy Department after his death, and together they proudly wore the unofficial title of "Preble's Boys". (When Preble took over command he discovered that his oldest officer was 30 and the youngest 15 years old. He therefore grumbled the Secretary of the Navy had given him "just a pack of schoolboys".) Preble's Mediterranean cruise led directly to the US government's firm anti-negotiation stance. Many Mediterranean states, including Tripoli, had been pirating American shipping vessels, ransoming the sailors, and demanding tribute to prevent future pirate attacks. The tribute rose after each successful payment, as did the brutality and boldness of the attacks. Later career In September 1804, Commodore Preble requested relief due to a longtime illness. He returned to the United States in February 1805 and became engaged in the comparably light duty of shipbuilding activities at Portland, Maine. By congressional resolution in March 1805, a gold medal was struck and presented to Commodore Preble for the "gallantry and good conduct" of himself and his squadron at Tripoli. President Jefferson offered him the Navy Department in 1806, but Preble declined appointment due to his poor health. Preble died in Portland of a gastrointestinal illness on August 25, 1807. He is buried in Eastern Cemetery in Portland, Maine. Personal life On March 17, 1801, Preble was married to Mary Deering (1770–1851) in Portland, Maine. Mary was a daughter of Nathaniel Deering and Dorcas (née Milk) Deering. Together, they were the parents of one child: Edward Deering Preble (1806–1846), who married Sophia Elizabeth Wattles (1813–1889) in 1833. Legacy Six ships of the United States Navy named Preble Hall, the museum at the United States Naval Academy Preble County in Ohio Fort Preble at Spring Point in South Portland, Maine Preble Street in Portland, Maine Preble Street in South Portland, Maine Preble Street in Bremerton, Washington Preble Ave. in Norman, Oklahoma Preble Township, Minnesota Town of Preble, Cortland County, NY Preble, Wisconsin, a former town in Wisconsin, now part of the city of Green Bay Preble High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin In popular culture Preble appears as a character in the science fiction novel Time for Patriots, , performing