Stephen Decatur Sr. (June 1751 – November 11, 1808) was a United States Navy officer and privateer who served in the American Revolutionary War and the Quasi-War.

[1] With the outbreak of the Quasi War with France, Decatur was commissioned as a captain in the United States Navy on May 11, 1798.

On May 5, 1798, Decatur was placed in command of the converted merchant ship USS Delaware and sailed in the first American Navy squadron to cross the Atlantic along with his son Stephen Decatur Jr.[2][3] Delaware captured a French privateer, La Croyable, off Great Egg Harbor, N.J., on 7 July 1798.

[4] From 14 July to 23 September, Delaware cruised in the West Indies, often in company with the frigate USS United States, and together the ships took two privateers prize.

In 1800, Decatur commissioned Philadelphia, the very vessel that his son later burned several months after it ran aground and was captured near Tripoli harbor in 1803.