Bainbridge teaches fleet coordination

Farragut's appointment to USS Independence showed that he had earned a reputation beyond his adoptive family. William Bainbridge exposed him to frequent communication and fleet coordination during the Second Barbary War, broadening an education formed largely aboard Porter's single ship. Farragut then served aboard the captured British frigate Macedonian under Stephen Decatur. Connections made during the Treaty of Tunis negotiations helped him remain there to study navigation and naval mapmaking. The extent of his formal study is debated, although the account credits him with improved navigational knowledge. His early career therefore exposed him to several command styles as well as an international education.