T3+-+6.4B

T3 - 6.4B: AJ Suchovsky, Nick Sagal ( Fighting at Sea)

Fighting At Sea September 24, 1779

One of the biggest battles in John Paul Jones command took place yesterday on September 23, 1779. The battle took place in the North Sea, off the Flamborough Head. Jones was pursuing the British ship HMS Serapis on his ship Bonhomme Richard. In the dark night the feat raged on for hours. The battle was a very bloody and heroic one. It might have very well changed the tables of war.

Captain John Paul Jones started off as a first lieutenant in the Continental Navy. Before Jones was part of the navy, he was just a commander. Many leaders of the navy did not want to let Jones into the navy. Benjamin Franklin saw Jones' talents though and made him a lieutenant. His first ship was the Ranger. He sailed this ship a long distance to France to show off the American flag. As a gift, the French gave Jones a ship that was formally named the Duc de Duras. He refurbished the ship and gave it a new name of Bonhomme Richard. Along with the Bonhomme, Jones had an additional two French owned ships in his fleet. With this fleet he set off to go harass British shipping.

The Serapis was a big ship. She was armed with 44 guns 20 18-pounders, 20 9-pounders, and 4 6-pounders. The Name Serapis came from the god Serapis in Greek and Egyptian Mythology. The Serapis’s opponent in the The Battle of Flamborogh Head was the USS Bonhomme Richard. The USS Bonhomme Richard was a French ship with 42 guns that was originally used as a merchant ship, but was given to John Paul Jones to command her as a loan to the U.S.A. in the Revolutionary War. Unlike many of the other French battle ships which had greater fire power. She was big with a well trained crew but sank a few hours after the battle was over. The USS Allance was a 36-gun frigate that helped the USS Bonhomme Richard take down the Serapis. The Serapis was given to the Americans after their captain surrendered the ship.

Jones was on his way to harass British shipping when he saw the Serapis off the Flamborough Head. His opponent had two ships. One being the superior Serapis with 44 guns and the other being a smaller sidekick ship, known as the Scarborough, with only 22 guns. With Jones were two other French commanded ships, one being the Allance. Jones engaged his enemy with full force. Cannons blasted from two directions. The Bonhomme took some very serious hits that tore the ship and set it a-flame. Jones ordered to sail directly torwards the Serapis. The two ships collided with earth-shaking force. From there the men fought with hand to hand combat. Soon one of Jones' men begged for surrender. Then Jones screamed in the air, "I have not yet begun to fight!" That scream engouraged Jones' men to fight even harder. The battle raged on for about another hour and Jones came out victorious. Jones watched as the Bonhomme sank to the sea. Jones sailed back to land on the Serapis to celabrate one of the greatest naval battles ever won for the Americans.

After the battle was over, the USS Bonhomme Richard sank 3 hours after fighting and John Paul Jones went to go work for the Russians. The Serapis was given to the French for losing the USS Bonhomme Richard. This battle changed the tides of war for American navies. Soon after this battle, Americans started to win more and more naval battles. Pretty soon, The Americans were blowing British ships out of their once controlled harbors. Once the British lost majority of the harbors, they could not land extra troops, trade, or control the Americans. That left the soldiers of the British with no almost no resouces. A while after the battle, the British surrendored with 5000 men to the 3000 American soldiers in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris.