His Most Famous Victory Came In 1779

A combined Franco-American squadron under the command of Continental Navy officer John Paul Jones and two British escort ships guarding a sizable trade convoy engaged in naval combat in the North Sea off the coast of Yorkshire on September 23, 1779. Despite its very small scale and a great deal of disagreement over what had actually happened, it became one of the most remembered naval battles of the war in America.

The Bonhomme Richard, which Jones was in command of, suffered severe damage. An interesting fact about John Paul Jones is that he is known for notoriously refusing to give up the battle when he was requested to do so, responding: "I have not yet begun to fight." After ramming the British ship Serapis and tying the two ships together, he eventually prevailed in the conflict. In fact, his ship was severely damaged, so he seized control of the Serapis.

The reunited squadron spotted a brig in Bridlington Bay early in the afternoon, so at around 3:30 pm, a small schooner that had been taken the day before was sent with a 15-man boarding party. The reason for sending the schooner may not have been because the brig was in extremely shallow water, as Jones' official report and Bonhomme Richard's log disagree at this point, but rather because the main squadron was en route to investigate a report of a ship sighting the near Flamborough Head further north. Alliance, which had been a little in front of the others, hoisted a signal and sped off shortly after the schooner was sent back. The schooner was immediately recalled by firing a signal cannon, and the entire squadron sailed in the direction of the potentially lucrative targets after spotting at least two large vessels in the distance.