William Wiley was a sailor of the United States Navy in the 19th century who served in the First Barbary War.
Besides a few details of his service in the Navy, little is known of the life of William Wiley. He entered the Navy on 2 April 1803 and was assigned to the schooner Enterprise in the Mediterranean Squadron. After attaining the rates of boatswain, boatswain's mate, and then a reduction to quartermaster, Wiley took part in the daring raid led by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr., in the ketch Intrepid at Tripoli harbor on 16 February 1804, destroying the frigate Philadelphia in the engagement. Quartermaster Wiley was transferred to the brig Scourge soon thereafter, and this is where his documentary trail ends.
Read more about William Wiley: Namesake
Famous quotes containing the word william:
“I have been reporting club meetings for four years and I am tired of hearing reviews of the books I was brought up on. I am tired of amateur performances at occasions announced to be for purposes either of enjoyment or improvement. I am tired of suffering under the pretense of acquiring culture. I am tired of hearing the word “culture” used so wantonly. I am tired of essays that let no guilty author escape quotation.”
—Josephine Woodward, U.S. author. As quoted in Everyone Was Brave, ch. 3, by William L. O’Neill (1969)