Editing William Bainbridge (section)

===War of 1812===
On 15 September, shortly after the [[War of 1812]] broke out between the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]], Bainbridge was appointed to command the 44-gun frigate USS ''Constitution'', succeeding Captain [[Isaac Hull]].<ref>[[#Cooper2|Cooper, 1846]] page 59</ref> ''Constitution'' was an enormous frigate of 1,533 tons, armed with 24-pounders, which had already captured the 18-pounder frigate {{HMS|Guerriere|1806|6}} of 1072 tons. Under Bainbridge, she was sent to cruise in the South Atlantic.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>[[#Roosevelt|Roosevelt, 1883]] pages 117–118</ref>

[[File:HMS Java 216885.JPG|thumb|264px|USS ''Constitution'' engaging HMS ''Java'']]
On 29 December 1812, Bainbridge fell in with the 38-gun {{HMS|Java|1811|6}}, off the coast of Brazil. ''Java'' was a vessel armed with 18-pounders and of 1,083 tons, formerly the French frigate ''Renommée''.<ref>[[#Barnes1896|Barnes, 1896]] p. ix</ref><ref>[[#Hickey|Hickey, 1989]] p. 96</ref> She had a crew of 300 men under Captain [[Henry Lambert]]<ref>[[#Barnes1896|Barnes, 1896]] p.84</ref> and was on her way to the [[East Indies]], carrying the newly appointed Lieutenant-General Hislop of [[Bombay]] and his staff along with dispatches to [[St. Helena]], [[Cape of Good Hope]] and every British port in the [[Indian Ocean|Indian]] and [[China Seas]].<ref>[[#Harris|Harris, 1837]] pp. 153–154</ref> She had an inexperienced crew with only a very few trained seamen, and her men had only had one day's gunnery drill.<ref name="EB1911"/> In addition to her crew, ''Java'' was carrying officers and seamen who were to join the British fleet in the East Indies bringing her complement to around 400, among them [[John Marshall (British captain)|Captain John Marshall]] who was to take command of a sloop of war stationed there.<ref name="Harris, 1837 p.147">[[#Harris|Harris, 1837]] p.147</ref> Under Bainbridge, ''Constitution'' had a well-drilled crew. ''Java'' was cut to pieces, with its rigging almost completely destroyed, and was forced to surrender, while having inflicted moderate damage to ''Constitution'', including removing ''Constitution''{{'}}s [[Ship's wheel|helm]] with shot and hitting the lower masts (which did not fall because of their large diameter). During the action, Bainbridge was wounded twice, but maintained command throughout. ''Java'' fought extremely well as compared to the ''Guerriere'' and ''Macedonian'' which had been taken earlier that year by similarly overwhelming force. ''Java'' successfully outmaneuvered the large ''Constitution'' until her jib was shot away. If  ''Constitution'' had been built with smaller diameter masts, she would have been dismasted. Fortunately, ''Constitution's'' masts were so wide that the smaller 18 lb shot from ''Java'' could not penetrate them. After three hours of intense fighting, ''Constitution'' prevailed. Because of the heavy damage inflicted on ''Java'' and the great distance from the American coast, Bainbridge decided to burn his prize.<ref name="Harris, 1837 p.147"/> On March 3, 1813, [[James Madison|President Madison]] presented Bainbridge with the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] for his service aboard ''Constitution''.<ref>[[#Harris|Harris, 1837]] pages 170–171</ref>

[[File:Engraving depicting Bainbridge Squadron off Algiers.jpg|thumb|268px|Bainbridge Squadron off Algiers]]