MATCHLESS FRIGATES AND THEIR DUELS It was soon made clear that the impressive victory over the _Guerriere_ was neither a lucky accident nor the result of prowess peculiar to the _Constitution_ and her crew.

Ship for ship, the American navy was better than the British.

This is a truth which was demonstrated with sensational emphasis by one engagement after another.

During the first eight months of the war there were five such duels, and in every instance the enemy was compelled to strike his colors.

In tavern and banquet hall revelers were still drinking the health of Captain Isaac Hull when the thrilling word came that the _Wasp_, an eighteen-gun ship or sloop, as the type was called in naval parlance, had beaten the _Frolic_ in a rare fight.