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John Paul Jones (1747-1792) gains renown for …

Years: 1779 - 1779
September

John Paul Jones (1747-1792) gains renown for his victory over British ships of war off the east coast of England during the U.S. War of Independence.

Jones, commanding the American ship Bonhomme Richard, engages the British ship Serapis in the Battle of Flamborough Head on September 23.

According to the later recollection of his First Lieutenant, Jones' legendary reply to a quip about surrender from the British captain, uttered during the early stages of a grueling three- to twelve-hour gun battle: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

The Bonhomme Richard sinks, but the Americans board the Serapis and other vessels, and are victorious.

Jones achieves a stunning victory, though with a heavy loss of life, when the Serapis surrenders.

A Scots-born redhead (as seen in a 1781 portrait by Charles Wilson Peale, currently in the Independence national Historical Park Collection, Philadelphia, PA), he was originally named John Paul.

After being appointed a master, he had purchased a vessel in the West Indies in 1772 but after killing the ringleader of a mutinous crew the following year, he had fled the islands to escape trial and changed his name to John Paul Jones.

America's first well-known naval fighter, Jones had been commissioned a senior lieutenant in the new Continental Navy when the war broke out.

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North Europe (1779 - 1779)
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Northwest Europe (1779 - 1779)

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