Seafaring Sunday: Command of Will

September 23, 1779: Continental ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, defeats HMS Serapis, Captain Richard Pearson while Continental Pallas also defeats HMS Countess of Scarborough off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire.

Header: John Paul Jones Monument in Washington D.C. via Wikipedia

Ships: A New Navy

Today marks the official anniversary of the founding of the Continental Navy by an act of the Continental Congress in 1775. Though the actual establishment by written measures outlining important issues like rank and number of officers, pay scales, ship building/purchase and provisioning did not occur until November, it was on October 13th that the contentious congress, unable it seems to agree thoroughly on anything (sound familiar?), approved the formation of a navy. This would plant the seed that would flower into the official United States Navy in 1794.


While plenty will be written about this anniversary today, the most compelling thing about the Continental Navy for me is that it was established specifically as a privateer fleet. Most of its original ships were thoroughly or in part privately owned and its ranks were entirely volunteer. Just like the big dog on the oceans at the time – the Royal Navy – the U.S. Navy spent its infancy as a gang of pirates.

Congress was clear that the foremost mission of the Continental Navy was, as noted at The Naval History Center online, “… to raid commerce and attack the transports that supplied British forces in North America.”

Of course the most famous of these raiders, and arguably the most successful, was Scotsman John Paul Jones. Like many colonials, Jones was a bit of a fugitive. He added “Jones” to his name to avoid a charge of murdering a subordinate officer aboard a merchant vessel in commanded prior to the Revolution, and then high-tailed it from the West Indies to Philadelphia. Not only did Jones raid the British coast and her merchant shipping, he managed to take at least two Royal Navy ships: HMS Ranger and HMS Serapis. The capture of these ships by the rebellious colonials was an embarrassment that rankled with the Royal Navy for years to come. Their distress at being bested by the U.S. would lead to a policy of impressments of American sailors and, in turn, the War of 1812.

It probably goes without saying that the Continental Navy was made up of small ships. Most were brigs, sloops or schooners that ran fast but could carry a reasonable compliment of men and arms; none were above frigate class. Fortunately for the memory of those who risked their lives at sea to help bring the U.S. into being, we know every ship by name. The list is memorialized online at the Naval Historical Center website; click the names noted in blue for more information about each ship.

To paraphrase Dulcie Kennard, the sea may be too impersonal to love but every sailor loves his ship. Since we cannot recall every Continental sailor’s name, let us remember their ships and take a moment to thank them – and those who continue to serve today – for their courage and sacrifice.

More on today’s anniversary can be found at Naval History Blog and The Naval Historical Society. Follow the U.S. Navy on Twitter here. Let me end with a quote from perhaps the wisest of U.S. Presidents, George Washington, who opposed Congress’ insistence on abandoning the navy in 1783:

Without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.

Header: A French illustration of the battle between Jones’ Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis via Eon Images

Ships: Updates Ahoy!

Wednesday is grocery day at my house (usually) and since it is one of the chores I hate (mostly because it is inestimably tedious in its never ending round of doing the same thing over and over again, rather like splicing rope aboard ship) I like to do it first thing in the morning. That’s why Wednesday posts are always late. And that’s why today I’m throwing out a bunch of updates on ships we’ve talked about before. It’s all good stuff, but it’s also quick and dirty. Oh, my!

Anyway, first off the U.S. Navy (bless her and all who serve) has completed the 2010 Bonhomme Richard survey. Click over to this post at the Naval History Blog for interesting information not only on the survey itself but on the marine archaeologist in charge.

Next is one of Triple P’s favorite pirate ships: Queen Anne’s Revenge. The remains believed to be those of Edward “Blackbeard” Teach’s flagship which sank off the coast of North Carolina circa 1718 are getting a little attention before winter sets in. A dozen of the ship’s eight feet long guns and her 1.800 pound anchors will receive corrosion prevention this month. Aluminum rods will be applied to what an article at Fox News refers to as “…the boat”. I’m not splitting hairs when I correct that term to ship. Anyway, the rods will act as “anodes”, providing a charge of electricity that will not prevent but will slow down the process of corrosion. The article tells us that the “… last full scale excavation and recovery of artifacts” from the ship took place in 2006. Want to follow the progress of not only this project but many others related to the ship believed to be Blackbeard’s? You can “like” Blackbeard’s-Queen Anne’s Revenge on Facebook for ongoing updates. What a fabulous, modern age we live in.

The last ship on today’s list is the mystery merchant vessel found last July at the World Trade Center construction site in New York City. According to this Fox News article, on October 4th experts gave a lecture documenting what has been so far determined about the life and death of this unexpected find. The scientists are calling the 18th century ship a “Hudson river sloop”; she was evidently a two-masted trading vessel of between 60 and 70 feet long. Whether she sank in place or was used as landfill after she became unseaworthy has yet to be determined. That she certainly sailed outside the Atlantic seaboard and probably as far as the Caribbean has been confirmed by the evidence of small, burrowing clams that ate at the ship’s hull and are native to tropical waters.

The ship was found to have an 18th century copper coin embedded in its structure, probably at the time it was built. The coin was issued during the reign of King George II and helps date the ship to between 1730 and 1760 approximately. As an interesting aside, this ancient tradition for keeping ship’s safe continues to this day, and close to home. USS New York, constructed in part from steel beams from the Twin Towers and completed in 2008, carries modern coins in her hull as well.

The plan for the merchant vessel, which is currently soaking in purified water, is yet to be determined. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which has oversight of the entire World Trade Center project, has not announced their intentions with regard to the ship. Scientists hope to be able to preserve her through freeze-drying, much as Texas A & M is doing with La Belle. Let us hope that the right decision is made not with concern for current economics, but for history – and the future.

Header: Blackbeard via the North Carolina Office of Archives and History (looks like Edward has been using his whitestrips!)

Seafaring Sunday: Desperate Resolve

Long before the close of the action, it became clearly apparent that the American ship dominated by a command of will of the most unalterable resolution and there could be no doubt that the intent of her command was, if he could not conquer, to sink alongside. And this desperate resolve of the American captain was fully shared and fiercly seconded by every one of his ship's company.

Captain Richard Pearson in his report regarding the capture of his ship HMS Serapis by John Paul Jones (pictured) in Bonhomme Richard

Ships: Poor Richard's Victory

For as storied as John Paul Jones’ three mast frigate Bonhomme Richard has become her life was relatively short and surprisingly exciting considering her origins. She was never intended to march into battle, being originally built in the French dockyards at Brest as an East India merchantman. But she faced her challenges in her brief time as a warrior with relish and heroism, as all the best ships do.

Built in 1766 for Monsieur Berard of the Companie des Indes, the heavy frigate was originally named Duc de Duras. She probably carried only light guns, perhaps no more than 12 pounders, during her twelve years on the merchant round. Little is known about this part of the ship’s life, but she seems to have been sturdy, weatherly and unmolested by freebooters.

By 1779 France was deep into another war with England and had both feet firmly in the American Revolution. John Paul Jones, now famous in France for his continued harassment of British shipping, was in the country after the loss of his inimitable Ranger. No doubt through the persuasion of America’s ambassador Benjamin Franklin, Louis XVI bought Duc de Duras from Berard and turned it over to Jones.

Now Commodore Jones was given a French commission and authority to prey on British shipping, particularly the privateers that continually troubled her merchants. The frigate went through a refit and was mounted with six 18 pound, twenty-eight 12 pound and eight 9 pound cannon and stuffed with a privateer-sized crew of close to 400 men. Jones named his new flagship Bonhomme Richard in honor of Franklin whose Poor Richard’s Almanac was known in France as Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard.

The frigate left the port of L’Orient on June 19th on her first mission: escorting French merchants to a number of ports along the Bay of Biscay. In Jones’ accompanying flotilla were the American built frigate Alliance and three French ships, the frigate Pallas, the brig Vengeance and a cutter, Le Cerf. The five ships would cruise together, on and off, for the next three months.

Bonhomme Richard was the largest of the flotilla. She displaced nearly 1,000 tons, was 155 feet in length and 40 feet across her beam. Her draft of 19 feet made her unsuitable for shallow bays and estuaries, so the brig and cutter were almost mandatory tenders. Certainly life aboard her was uncomfortably cramped. Jones had obviously planned for prize taking and that necessitated men for prize crews.

Once the merchants had been seen safely into their ports, Jones turned his ships northward for a cruise quite literally around the island of Britain. Setbacks arose, including an embarrassing collision between Bonhomme Richard and Alliance that caused a retreat to L’Orient for refit. Back at sea by August 1st, Jones began collecting prizes of British merchants and privateers. Trouble continued, however. When the flotilla was becalmed off Dingle Bay, Ireland, an altercation broke out between Jones and Alliance’s French Captain Pierre Landais. Landais essentially called Jones a coward for keeping Alliance from following a prize into the Bay. Jones claimed he felt the calm coming and wanted to keep Landais from capture but Landais would not back down. He would take Alliance out on her own and later, meeting up with Bonhomme Richard again off Cape Wrath, Scotland, would challenge Jones to a never-to-be-realized duel.

This questioning of the Commodore’s authority brought desertions during the calm and Le Cerf fell out of sight in a heavy fog while trying to bring back the wayward men. Eventually Bonhomme Richard, Pallas and Vegeance pressed north to the outer Hibredes and then turned south. Jones tried to blockade and ransom Newcastle, the coal port in eastern England, but his captains would not participate. Several prizes of colliers (ships carrying coal particularly to Scandinavia and Holland) were taken, however, and success for Jones’ cruise began to materialize.

At dawn on September 23rd, Bonhomme Richard, along with Pallas, sighted HMS Serapis and her consort sloop Countess of Scarborough. It took the entire day for the ships to close on each other due to the poor winds but by 6:30 in the evening Jones bespoke Captain Richard Pearson of Serapis. No kind words were exchanged and within the hour a firefight was in progress.

Things went poorly for Bonhomme Richard at first. Two of her 18 pounders exploded, killing a number of men and shutting down the other four heavy guns for fear they might also be defective. She was left with only her light guns against Serapis’ greater fire power. Jones made a desperate and as it turns out brilliant tactical decision to ram and board Serapis as if he and his opponent were Roman triremes. Bonhomme Richard’s hull befowled Serapis’ foreanchor, holding the two ships together. Jones applied a series of grapnels to increase the hold and boarding commenced while the extremely close range firefight continued.

Both ships were nearly destroyed in the four hour conflict that followed. At last Serapis surrendered some time after Countess of Scarborough struck to Pallas. Jones transferred his entire crew to Serapis, who was in only slightly better shape than her opponent, and managed to limp her into the Texel Roads port in Holland.

Bonhomme Richard, the former Duc de Duras, was noted in Jones’ log as sinking at 11:00 AM on September 25th of 1779. Gone but not forgotten, Bonhomme Richard, as noted in last Friday’s post, is now a prize herself. But this time the hunters are marine archaeologists and the benefactor is history.

Painting via Maritime National Images.

Booty: Bonhomme Richard

On September 23rd of 1779, John Paul Jones flagship Bonhomme Richard sank in the icy waters off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, England. She was broken and on fire after a long and bloody battle with HMS Serapis that resulted in the British ship striking to the upstart American and Jones taking Serapis as prize. Bonhomme Richard still lies, rather ingloriously given the results of the battle, in the silt at the bottom of the sea,

This brief post over at the US Naval History Blog gives the heads up that marine archaeologists and the American Navy now have an idea of where the wreck of Bonhomme Richard might be. According to reports from USNS Henson on the site, about 45% of surveying using a towed sonar scanner has been completed. When this is done and likely sites have been identified, divers and Remotely Operated Vehicles will be sent in to investigate. As noted in the post, the scanning should be done within the next few days, weather permitting.

Bonhomme Richard is an important symbol of America’s struggle for independence that has, in the past, been unfortunately glossed over. Like so many other of the U.S. Navy’s early achievements, the victory over Serapis that stunned the mighty Royal Navy has taken a back seat to the land based successes of Washington and his ilk. I will say Huzzah! for Bonhomme Richard. You know I’ll be keeping an eye on this project, and keeping you updated as she goes.

Header painting: of Bonhomme Richard vs. Serapis “The Deadly Embrace” by William Gilkerson at J. Jinishian Gallery.