John Trippe was born in Dorchester County, Md in 1785.
He was a direct descendant of Henry Trippe, prominent soldier and legislator, who migrated from England to Dorchester County in 1663. His paternal grandfather, John Trippe, married Elizabeth Noel, and, according to a son's account, had twenty-one children. One son, William, the father of John, was married to his cousin, Mary Noel, and to this union were born three children.
It is not clear what academic training John received, but the superior quality of his official communications to the navy department, after he had reached maturity, suggests that his formal schooling had by no means been neglected.
When hostilities occurred between the United States and France, he was residing at Easton, Md.
On April 5, 1799, he entered the navy as a midshipman, and during the next two years made extended voyages on the United States and the Experiment.
After the settlement of difficulties with France, he was transferred to the President and sent to the Mediterranean, whither a squadron had been dispatched to check the aggressions of the Barbary powers, particularly Tripoli.
In 1802 he received a furlough to make a voyage in the merchant service. The following year he was ordered to the Vixen as acting-lieutenant, and, on August 3, 1803, sailed for Tripoli, where he joined Commodore Edward Preble's squadron.
In the subsequent assaults upon the enemy, Trippe displayed courage of the highest order. While in command of Gunboat No. 6, Aug. 3, 1804, he ran alongside one of the largest of the enemy boats and boarded her with only ten companions, his own boat falling off before others could follow. There were thirty-six of the enemy, led by a Tripolitan over six feet in height, who, it was said, had sworn upon the Koran that he would never surrender. Trippe now engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict with this man. His own pike broke, and he was forced to grapple with his antagonist. Both fell; but Trippe, after receiving a total of eleven wounds, finally killed the Tripolitan commander with the latter's own saber. Meanwhile the Americans under Trippe's command subdued the remaining Tripolitans. Some of his wounds were serious, but he nevertheless participated in subsequent attacks.
He returned to the United States in November 1805. His later activities included service in the Mediterranean in 1806, duty at Charleston, S. C. , relative to the enforcement of embargo legislation in 1808, a mission to Holland on board the Enterprise to transact business pertaining to commercial relations in 1809, and the beginning of a voyage to New Orleans in 1810. Near Stirrup Key, on June 24, 1810, Trippe's vessel, the Vixen, was fired upon by the British warship, Moselle. The Vixen was immediately cleared for action, but an engagement was averted when the British commander tendered a written apology for his action.
Trippe died at Havana.
Trippe was undersized but exceedingly agile.
He was unmarried.
He was the great-great-grandfather of Juan T. Trippe, Pan Am's founder and Chairman, and great-great-great-grandfather of artist Jim Trippe.
