Bon Homme Richard (CVA 31) - Naval Cruise Book

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Scarborough Fort with the two convoy escorts covering their rear and flank. Immediately hauling his ship to the wind Jones maneuvered to get between the land and the larger ship, but only succeeded by sundown because of the light wind and the poor sailing features of BONHOMME RICHARD. Flamborough Head was now- due east and about seven miles distant. By 7:00 P.M. there was a full moon and BONHOMME RICHARD approached one of the British adversaries wh j was on an opposite tack. He discerned her to be a small two-decker. She was the H.M. Frigate SERAPIS, commanded by Captain Richard Pearson, and carried a crew of 317 men. Slie mtumtcd twenty long 18-pounder guns on her lower deck, twenty-two long 9-pounders on her upper deck, and had eight 9- pounders on her quarter deck for a total of 50 guns. Fifteen minutes later the two warships were heading northwest on the same tack with the wind blowing lightly from the southwest. There was a smooth sea and a clear sky with a full moon. The conditions were excellent fur battle. The captain of SERAPIS hailed BONHOMME RICHARD twice, asking her identity, and, as his second call died away, both ships fired a broadside at a range of 800 yards.

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Nowhere did John Paul Jones ' s remarkable qualities as a leader show up more clearly than in making a fighting crew out of these men within less than a year. Without the advantages of a common background or a common interest in the war, they were inspired by Jones, with the ideals of the Revolution in which he believed so strongly himself, to the point where they were willing to sail against any British convoy. After many months of preparation and one false start the American squadron comprised of the BONHOMME RICHARD, ALLIANCE, PALLAS, CERF, VENGEANCE and the French men-of-war MONSIEUR and GRAN- VILLE set sail from L ' Orient in search of enemy convoys. As the cruise progressed friction arose among the French captains and Jones; a conference was called by Jones and a document signed that combined the vessels by common consent, thus establishing the force as a group of independent privateers, with no single officer in charge. The French had supplied the vessels and the armaments, so Jones could not disagree. On tiie morning of 23 September, 1779. near Spurn Head, England, a brigantine was sighted and BON HOMME RICHARD gave chase. But when the British merchant ship was within the 9-pounder range, the lookout in the rigging suddenly called out, sail ho . A whole forest of masts and sails was in Bridlington Bay. It was the Baltic merchant fleet which Captain Jones had been eagerly searching for. He ordered VENGEANCE to stand to the south and east and notify ALLIANCE that the next rendezvous would be Flamborough Head. He then laid a course to the north-northeast and signalled PALL.- S to keep to the starboard and not to lose sight of BONHOMME RICHARD. Since the slight wind was from the southwest they stayed too far to leeward so that Flamborough Head was on the port head instead of on the starboard. The last tack was inshore and at 1:00 P.M. they were hauling to the starboard when the whole Baltic Fleet upped anchor and came out of Bridlington Bay. They steered north-northeast for

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riu ' lilllf Py LLAS turned to escape ihc wi.nh H.M. Iiisate COUNTESS OF SCARliOROKil I .md lying oil ' teasing the larger ship, she was able in k her from entering the battle between SERAl ' IS BONHOMME RICHARD. However, shortly alui opening broadside. COUNTESS OF SCARBOROL ' had closed the distance sufficiently to angle a broad at tile p.u.p deck of BONHOMME RICIIARI) and many of tiie French Marines who were manning after 9-pounders. Thereafter, COUNTESS OF SC. BOROUGH did not figure in the battle. Ih. siiu.iii.Mi ..1. HONHO.M.ME RICHARD was tragic ahncisi 1 11)111 I he beginning. Two of the 18-pounders l)uisi l),ii k 111 ilic trunnions wounding many of the t;uiin(is ,111(1 lilted the gun-deck above them causing the shots Iroiii the I L ' -pounders to be deflected into tlic lop-hamper il their target. The entire crew was de- moi.ili ed and quickly abandoned their guns and stuiiicd on deck. Acting Lieutenant John Maynant rec omiiieiided that the 18-pounders be abandoned and his suggestion was followed. Thus BONHOM.ME RICHARD ' S broadside was now reduced to four 12-pounders and four 9-pounders, and she was firing 204 pounds of metal at SER.A.PIS while the British man-of-war was answering with 315 pounds of metal per broadside. The only way Captain Jones could end the battle would be to board SERAPIS and battle hand to hand. The broadsides from SERAPIS silenced gun after gun on BONHOMME RICHARD and the braces to the sails were being cut away one at a time. Captain Pearson, seeing his opportunity, backed his ttjpsails and raked BONHOMME RICHARD from stem to stern and tiien filled them again to move ahead for another broadside. The disparity in firepower was telling on BON HOMME RICHARD as her deck and rigging fell to pieces before the British cannon. Captain Pearst)n now hoped to end the affair by luffing across the bow of BONHOMME RICHARD, raking her forecastle and tack- ing around her bows, thus gaining the wind, and again mutilating the American ship with another broadside. However, the maneuver failed as BONHO.MME RICHARD continued to hold way and forge ,ihead. Then, too, the ships would close their quarters, and the musketry from BONHOMME RICHARD would be more accurate. Captain Pearson was already feeling the effect of the rifles aboard the frigate, for more than once his gunners had been driven from their cannons by well- aimed musketry. Captain Pearson then attempted to let his bow fall off to port and rake the American ' s stern with a broadside in hopes of disabling her rudder. Bui in doing so, the stern of SERAPIS sw ung to, and Captain Jones had his grapneling hooks thrown into the mizzen backstays of SERAPIS in an attempt to draw the ships close together for boaiding. The grapnel hooks held but the lines parted, and BONHOMME RICHARD forged ahead so that none of the guns on either ship could bear on the other. The battle had now lasted three quarters of an hour, and each was given a brief respite to prepare for the onslaught which would begin in a few minutes. A survey of BONHOMME RICHARD showed that of her fourteen 12-pounders, nine were either dismounted or so jammed by the wreckage of the port openings that they were unserviceable. The 18-pounders were still useless, and of the 144 men who had manned the cannon on the gun-deck, only 64 remained on liieir feet to do battle. The remainder of the men were scattered about the deck, intertwined amid the wreckage and 5