The first action "Syren" was involved in was an attack aimed at destroying , a frigate that had run aground the previous autumn and that Tripolitan gunboats had then captured. To prevent "Philadelphia" from opposing his planned operations against Tripoli, the commander of the American squadron in the Mediterranean, Commodore Edward Preble, decided to destroy her. To achieve this, "Syren" and ketch sailed from Syracuse on 3 February 1804 and proceeded to Tripoli, which they reached on 7 February. However, before the American ships could launch their attack, they were driven off by a violent gale and did not get back off Tripoli until 16 February. Before the attack "Syren" tied up alongside "Intrepid" to transfer some of her crew for the assault on "Philadelphia". Aboard "Intrepid", under the command of Stephen Decatur, sailors from both "Intrepid" and "Syren" succeeded in burning "Philadelphia". Also present during the assault was Thomas Macdonough of "Syren".