"The first was with Tripoli; but as that happened in 1805, Arthur, of course, could not have taken part in it, for he made his first voyage at sea in 1815.

We lost but one vessel, and that was captured in 1803--two years before war with Tripoli was declared.

It was the frigate Philadelphia, and she wasn't whipped, either, but was run aground while pursuing a piratical vessel.
She was commanded by Captain Bainbridge, who surrendered himself and crew.

They were not compelled to 'walk the plank,' however, but were reduced to a horrible captivity, and treated worse than dogs.

The Tripolitans never got a chance to use the Philadelphia against us, for Decatur--who was at that time a lieutenant serving under Commodore Preble, who commanded our navy in those waters--boarded her one night with twenty men while she was lying in the harbor, swept the deck of more than double that number of pirates, burned the vessel under their very noses, and returned to his ship with only one man wounded.