Commissioned in 2002, the Preble honors Commodore Edward Preble, the exacting commander who led the first American squadron against the Barbary pirates in 1803–1804 and turned a collection of young officers—Decatur, Hull, Lawrence, and others—into the fighting core of the early United States Navy. They called themselves 'Preble's Boys.' Every one of them repaid his faith in full. The Preble serves the Pacific Fleet.