"Intrepid" and "Syren" set sail 2 February and arrived off Tripoli five days later. However, bad weather delayed the operation until 16 February. That evening "Syren" took station outside the harbor and launched her boats to stand by for rescue work. At 7 o'clock "Intrepid" entered the harbor and 2½ hours later was alongside "Philadelphia". When hailed, they claimed to be traders who had lost their anchor in the late gale, and begged permission to make fast to the frigate till morning. Guards suddenly noticed the ketch still had her anchors and gave the alarm. Leaving a small force commanded by Surgeon Lewis Heermann on board "Intrepid", Decatur led 60 of his men to the deck of the frigate. A brief struggle, conducted without firing a gun, gave the Americans control of the vessel enabling them to set her ablaze. Decatur, the last man to leave the burning frigate, remained on board "Philadelphia" until flames blazed from the hatchways and ports of her spar deck. When he finally left the ship, her rigging and tops were afire. Shore batteries opened up on "Intrepid" as she escaped only to be answered from abandoned "Philadelphia" when her guns discharged by the heat of the conflagration.