Solomon Wren

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Solomon Wren—born in 1780 in Loudoun County, Va.—enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at Alexandria, Va., on 1 April 1799. Assigned to the schooner Enterprise, Wren rose in rank and, by the end of 1803, had been promoted to sergeant.

In February 1804, Sgt. Wren volunteered for the expedition mounted to destroy the frigate Philadelphia, captured by the Tripolitan pirates on 31 October 1803 after grounding on an uncharted reef off Tripoli. Under the command of Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr., Wren and 68 other sailors and marines entered Tripoli harbor on the night of 16 February in the ketch Intrepid and succeeded in setting fire to the former American ship.

Later that year, on 3 August, Sgt. Wren was slightly wounded while assigned to Gunboat No. 4 during another attack on Tripoli. On 20 September, he transferred to the frigate John Adams and returned home. He was detached from the Marine Corps on 24 March 1805, and no further record of his life has been found.

In 1944, the destroyer USS Wren (DD-568) was named in his honor.

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This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.