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| Bonhomme Richard (1779) | |
|---|---|
| Ship name | Bonhomme Richard |
| Ship namesake | Benjamin Franklin |
| Operator | Continental Navy |
| Builder | Holland/Calais? |
| Ordered | 1778 |
| Acquired | 1779 |
| Commissioned | 1779 |
| Fate | Sank after battle 1779 |
| Displacement | ~1,000 tons |
| Length | ~132 ft |
| Beam | ~34 ft |
| Complement | ~300–400 |
| Armament | 40–42 guns |
Bonhomme Richard (1779) was a frigate converted from a French merchant ship that served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War and is best known for her action under John Paul Jones at the Battle of Flamborough Head. Built in Europe and placed under American command, she participated in Franco-American naval cooperation and transatlantic commerce raiding against Royal Navy convoys. Her dramatic engagement with HMS Serapis became a seminal event linking figures such as Benjamin Franklin, King Louis XVI of France, and naval traditions in the nascent United States Navy.
The vessel began life as the French merchantman Duc de Duras or as a purpose-built privateer, with sources diverging between ports such as Dunkirk, Rochefort, Calais, and shipyards associated with builders like Pierre Le Pelley; she was purchased for the Continental Congress through intermediaries including agents connected to Benjamin Franklin in Paris and outfitted for war at shipyards linked to John Paul Jones's supporters. Her hull form reflected transatlantic merchant design influenced by Jacques-Noël Sané's contemporary naval architecture and broader late-18th century French practice, yielding an approximate length of 120–140 feet, a beam near 34 feet, and a burthen close to 1,000 tons, comparable to contemporaries such as USS Ranger (1777) and French frigates like Hermione (1779). The conversion included reinforcing decks, adding gunports, and altering rigging to a full-rigged ship plan similar to ships of the line and frigates in service with Royal Navy and Marine Royale fleets, while retaining merchant timbers that later affected survivability. Her nominal armament listed 40–42 guns, often compared with standard batteries on HMS Serapis (1779) and HMS Countess of Scarborough.
After commissioning she sailed under the command of John Paul Jones, a former officer of Royal Navy origin who had served aboard vessels like USS Providence (1776) and engaged in privateering and diplomatic efforts in ports such as Brest and Lorient. Jones used the ship as his flagship for an Atlantic cruise aimed at disrupting British commerce and diverting Royal Navy resources from continental theaters like the Glorious First of June period. His squadron operated in waters around Ireland, Scotland, and the North Sea, attacking merchantmen associated with companies including the Hudson's Bay Company and targeting convoys bound for London and Hull. Jones coordinated with officers such as Pierre Landais in later service, and his cruises involved interactions with French officials tied to Comte de Rochambeau's diplomatic milieu.
On 23 September 1779, Jones in Bonhomme Richard engaged a British convoy escorted by HMS Serapis under Richard Pearson and HMS Countess of Scarborough under Thomas Piercy off Flamborough Head, near Whitby and Scarborough. The action involved complex maneuvers, close-quarters firefights, and claims of boarding attempts; Jones signaled famous orders evoking morale comparable to episodes in Battle of Trafalgar narratives despite predating Horatio Nelson. The engagement featured heavy broadsides, musketry, and attempts to grapple, juxtaposing continental-style frigate tactics against Royal Navy line tactics exemplified by officers schooled in Portsmouth and Chatham Dockyard traditions. Contemporary dispatches referenced by figures like Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee underscored its diplomatic impact, and subsequent court-martials and inquiries in London and Philadelphia examined conduct similar to controversies involving Thomas Jefferson's later naval policy debates.
Bonhomme Richard sustained catastrophic hull damage from repeated broadsides by Serapis and splintering from close-range fire; casualties and structural failures overwhelmed makeshift repairs. Following the capture of Serapis after intense fighting and Jones's famous purported reply "I have not yet begun to fight!"—a phrase linked in lore to speeches by figures such as Patrick Henry—the badly damaged Bonhomme Richard could not survive. Efforts to tow and salvage involved prizes sent to ports including Texel, Flushing (Vlissingen), and contested decisions by prize courts influenced by officials from Admiralty and American commissioners in Paris. Eventually, she foundered and sank, with survivors taken to ports such as Yarmouth and repatriated via contacts including Samuel Adams's networks and diplomatic channels established by Silas Deane.
Her crew comprised multinational seamen and marines from the United States, Scotland, Ireland, and France, including American volunteers with prior service under John Paul Jones on ships like Ranger. Officers serving under Jones included lieutenants and warrant officers who later appear in naval records alongside names such as Richard Dale and James Nicholson in comparative lists of Continental officers. Armament varied during cruises but included 18-pounder and 9-pounder guns comparable to batteries on Serapis and carronades similar to those employed by Royal Navy vessels at the time. Command decisions by Jones interacted with prize disposition overseen by entities such as the Continental Congress and French officials like Vergennes.
The dramatic engagement elevated John Paul Jones to near-mythic status in the emerging United States and influenced naval doctrine in works associated with Alfred Thayer Mahan and later naval historians using archives in London and Philadelphia. The battle and the wreck have inspired paintings by artists in the tradition of Benjamin West and maritime painters in the lineage of J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Buttersworth, theatrical works in London and New York, and commemorations by institutions such as the United States Naval Academy and museums in York and Philadelphia. Modern archaeological interest involves searches using techniques developed by teams linked to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and conservation methods practiced by National Maritime Museum (Greenwich), while cultural memory persists in monuments similar to those honoring Admiral Nelson and in ship-naming traditions of the United States Navy that recall her storied engagement.
Category:Ships of the Continental Navy Category:Shipwrecks in the North Sea