Naval+Battle+the+Bonhomme+Richard+Defeats+the+Serepis

media type="file" key="blow boys blow song.mp3" align="center" On September 23rd, 1779, the USS Bonhomme Richard, who was captained by John Paul Jones, met the HMS Serapis and her Baltic crew of forty-one, captained by British naval officer, Sir Richard Pearson. At approximately 6pm, the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis engaged in battle near Flamborough Head. The Alliance, one of Jones' ships started the battle with the first shot, aimed at the Countess of Scarborough. Over the course of four hours, both American and British troops lost nearly half their troops. It seemed as if the British had the battle in the bag, what with the Serapis' heavy artillery destroying the Bonhomme Richard. When Pearson, called to Jones to surrender, Jones replied, "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!".

By some great feat, Jones managed to lash the two ships together, neutralizing any endeavor for the Serapis' greater maneuverability. Jones tried to use the Bonhomme Richard's greater size and larger crew to his advantage, and attempted to board the British ship, but were rejected. The British tried to board the American's ship as well, but their attempt was rejected as well. At roughly 10:30pm, as a squad of reinforcements came to Jones' aide, (causing an inconsiderate amount of damage to the Bonhomme Richard itself), Pearson surrendered. The Bonhomme Richard was badly damaged- being shattered, on fire, and leaking badly. Despite the Americans' best efforts to save her, the Bonhomme Richard sunk thirty-six hours later at 11 am, on Saturday, September 25, 1779. From there, Jones sailed the captured Serapis to the United Provinces for repairs. media type="youtube" key="SHE_XHigysI" height="315" width="420" align="center"

The Bonhomme Richard was first built in 1766, by Randall & Brent Shipyards. Originally called Duc de Doras, she was used as a merchant ship, bought by France for the French East India Company in 1765. On February 4, 1779, [|King Louis XVI of France]loaned the ship to John Paul Jones and subsequently the United States by French shipping magnate, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray. Jones renamed the ship the Bon Homme Richard, but the name is usually spelled Bonhomme Richard, which is the correct French. The ship was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, who had his Poor Richard's Almanac recently published in France under the title, "Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard". The Bonhomme Richard weighed 1,014 metric tonnes and measured 152 feet in length. The draft of the ship's hull, meaning the vertical distance between the waterline and the keel. The widest point or beam of the ship was a full 19 feet wide; the wider the beam, the more stability a ship has. The ship was propelled by sails and had the enlistment of 380 soldiers. The armament of the ship contained 28 x 12-pound smoothbore, 6 x 18-pound smoothbore, and a 8 x 9-pound smoothbore. A smoothbore is a waepon that has a barrel without rifling. John Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor and one of America's first well-known naval officers in the American Revolution. He added "Jones" to his name himself and has earned a reputation because of the Battle of Flambourough Head that still persists to this very day. After coming to America, Jones set off for Philadelphia to serve in the freshly risen Continental Navy. If it wasn't for Richard Henry Lee, Jones' abilities would have flew under the radar. John Paul Jones took command of the Bonhomme Richard in 1779. On August 14, he provided a diversion when a vast French and Spanish fleet approached England by heading for Ireland. he headed a five ship squadron that included the Alliance and Pallas. When the convoy was only a few days away from Groix, several navy warships were sent to stop them. Jones continued right around the north of Scotland, into the North Sea. Jones created near panic all along the British coast, even as far as the Humber estuary. However, not everything went off without a hitch; Jones' main problems were that of insubordination, particularly from the captain of the Alliance, Pierre Landias. The flag shown above is the flag that John Paul Jones had entered into the Dutch records to help avoid any charges of piracy, seeing as he took the Serapis "under an unknown flag". Pearson was the British naval officer who captained the HMS Serapis in the Battle of Flamborough Head. He was a lieutenant in the West Indies, and did rather well during the Seven Years War, but was severely wounded. He could not receive his commission because both of his commanding officers were killed before they could fill it. In 1773, he obtained the rank of Captain because he was wounded. In 1779, he commanded the Serapis, forty-four guns, and escorted a large convoy from the Baltic, where he was then attacked by Jones and the USS Bonhomme Richard. Even though the battle ended in Pearson's surrender, he was considered a hero for his gallant defense that ensured the escape of valuable convoy. After returning to Britain, he was knighted, and recieved presents from several merchants, along with the freedom of several towns.

The Serapis was built by Daniel Brent and was laid down on March 3rd, 1778. The Serapis was a Royal Navy two-decker, Roebuck-class fifth rate. She was named after the Greek and Egyptian God, Serapis. The Serapis is measured in bm, or builder's old measurement. The gundeck is 140 feet long and the keel 116 feet. The beam was 37 feet and 9 inches and the depth of hold 16 feet and 4 inches. The Serapis was a fully-rigged sailing ship that had 280 men, and then 300 men from 1783 onward. The lower deck had twenty 18-pounders, the upper deck had twenty-two 9-pounders (which later became upgrader into 12-pounders), and the forecastle had four 6-pounders. After the Battle of Flamborough Head, the Americans took the Serapis from British rule, later giving it to the French. The French then sent it over to Madagascar, where a sailor accidentally dropped a lantern into an open keg of rum, and the ship proceeded to burn down.

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