John Paul Jones had already made a name for himself before his signature battle. His Ranger was part of the fledgling American navy. In 1778, he had conducted some daring and well-publicized raids on the British coast. In 1779, he came into port in France and was given the old ship Duc De Duras by the French government through the machinations of Ambassador Benjamin Franklin. Jones renamed the frigate Bonhomme Richard in honor of Franklin. Jones was given command of a small fleet that included five other warships. One of them was a frigate named Alliance. The French intended for him to singe the lion’s tail for them. Mission accomplished as his fleet took 16 merchant ships in the following weeks. On Sept. 23, 1779 Jones spotted a British merchant convoy escorted by the 50-gun frigate HMS Serapis and a sloop of 20 guns. Although the Serapis was much superior to the 40-gun Bonhomme Richard, Jones did not hesitate to attack. The battle began after dark, but there was full moon. The battle (officially the Battle of Flamborough Head) commenced with exchanging of broadsides, with the American ship getting the worst of it. Jones knew his only hope was to fight in close. An attempt to board failed, but the maneuvering by the ships got them entangled. Jones’ crew used grappling hooks to keep the ships locked together. Meanwhile, cannons continued to blast away. Jones put marines in his fighting tops to pick off British tars on the deck. As though things were not chaotic enough, the French ship Alliance entered the battle and fired at the Bonhomme Richard! At some point the British Captain Pearson yelled “Have you struck your colors?” Supposedly, Jones responded with the iconic “I have not yet begun to fight”. These would have been famous last words had not a William Hamilton made his mark on history. Hamilton climbed into the sails with a bucket of grenades and started hurling them onto the Serapis. One of them bounded down a hatch and exploded in a cache of gunpowder. The subsequent explosion convinced Pearson to surrender. Jones transferred to the Serapis from the sinking Bonhomme Richard. The “Father of the U.S. Navy” had survived to become immortal.
https://www.historycentral.com/Revolt/Bonnehome.html
https://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/lhd6/pages/history.aspx
https://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/shipwrecks/battle_lesson/battle_lesson.htm
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