USS Bonhomme Richard (1765)
| File:USS Bonhomme Richard (1765).jpg USS Bonhomme Richard | |
| Career (US) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | Bonhomme Richard |
| Builder: | Randall & Brent Shipyards |
| Launched: | 1766[1] |
| Acquired: | 4 February 1779 |
| In service: | 4 February 1779 |
| Out of service: | 25 September 1779[1] |
| Fate: | Sank in battle |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 998 tons (1014 tonnes)[1] |
| Length: | 152 ft (46 m)[1] |
| Beam: | 40 ft (12 m)[1] |
| Draft: | 19 ft (5.8 m)[1] |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: | 380 officers and enlisted[1] |
| Armament: |
28 x 12-pound smoothbore 6 x 18-pound smoothbore 8 x 9-pound smoothbore[1] |
The first USS Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc de Duras, was a frigate in the Continental Navy. She was originally an East Indiaman, a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765, for service between France and the Orient. She was placed at the disposal of John Paul Jones on 4 February 1779, by King Louis XVI of France as a result of a loan to the United States by French shipping magnate, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray.
Contents
Origin
Little is known about the early career of Bonhomme Richard other than she was originally an East Indiaman named Duc de Duras; a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765. In that capacity she sailed between France and the Orient until purchased by King Louis XVI of France in early 1779 and placed under the command John Paul Jones on 4 February.[2]
Jones renamed her Bon Homme Richard - usually rendered in more correct French as Bonhomme Richard, to honor Benjamin Franklin, the American Commissioner at Paris whose Poor Richard's Almanac had been published in France under the title Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard.[1]
First patrols
On 19 June 1779, Bonhomme Richard sailed from Lorient accompanied by Alliance, Pallas, Vengeance, and Cerf with troop transports and merchant vessels under convoy to Bordeaux and to cruise against the British in the Bay of Biscay. Forced to return to port for repair, the squadron sailed again 14 August 1779. Going northwest around the west coast of the British Isles into the North Sea and then down the east coast. The squadron took 16 merchant vessels as prizes.
Battle of Flamborough Head
On 23 September 1779, they encountered the Baltic Fleet of 41 sail under convoy of HMS Serapis and Countess of Scarborough near Flamborough Head. After 18:00 Bonhomme Richard engaged Serapis and a bitter engagement, the Battle of Flamborough Head, ensued during the next four hours that cost the lives of nearly half the American and British crews. At first, a British victory seemed inevitable as the more heavily armed Serapis used its firepower to rake Bonhomme Richard with devastating effect, killing Americans by the score. The Commanding Officer of Serapis then called on Jones to surrender, who replied, "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones eventually succeeded in lashing the two ships together, nullifying his opponent's greater maneuverability and attempting to take advantage of the larger size and considerably greater crew of Bonhomme Richard. An attempt by the Americans to board Serapis was repulsed, as was an attempt by the British to board Bonhomme Richard. Finally, after another of Jones's squadron joined in the fight (uncaringly causing serious collateral damage aboard the Richard) the British captain surrendered at about 10:30 p.m. Bonhomme Richard, shattered, on fire, and leaking badly defied all efforts to save her and sank about 36 hours later at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, 25 September 1779. John Paul Jones sailed the captured Serapis to the United Provinces for repairs.
Though Bonhomme Richard sank subsequent to the battle, the outcome of the battle convinced the French crown of the wisdom of backing the colonies in their fight to separate from British authority.
Search for the wreck
Bonhomme Richard's final resting location is the subject of much speculation. A number of efforts have been conducted to locate the wreck. As of 2005, these efforts have been unsuccessful. The location of the wreck is presumed to be in approximately 180 feet of water off Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, a headland near where her final battle took place. The number of other wrecks in the area and a century of fishing trawling operations have complicated all searches.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Bonhomme Richard". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b8/bonhomme_richard-i.htm. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
- ↑ Hill (1905), pp. 23–24.
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
Bibliography
- Allen, Gardner Weld (1913). A Naval History of the American Revolution. II. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 2613121. http://books.google.com/books?id=uRERAAAAYAAJ.
- Beach, Edward L. (1986). The United States Navy 200 Years. New York: H. Holt. ISBN 9780030447112. OCLC 12104038.
- Cooper, James Fenimore (1856). History of the Navy of the United States of America. New York: Stringer & Townsend. OCLC 197401914. http://books.google.com/books?id=WK3mWOlYYNsC.
- Hill, Frederic Stanhope (1905). Twenty-Six Historic Ships. New York and London: G.P. Putnam's Sons. OCLC 1667284. http://books.google.com/books?id=aAMKAAAAIAAJ.
- Maclay, Edgar Stanton; Smith, Roy Campbell (1898) [1893]. A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1898. 1 (New ed.). New York: D. Appleton. OCLC 609036. http://books.google.com/books?id=3tVCAAAAIAAJ.
- Ryan, Melissa (Fall/Winter 2006). "Recapturing the Unsinkable Spirit of the Bonhomme Richard" (PDF). Wrack Lines Magazine (Groton: Connecticut Sea Grant) 6 (2). ISSN 2151-2825. OCLC 48206014. http://web2.uconn.edu/seagrant/publications/magazines/wracklines/fallwinter06/bonhomme.pdf.
- Smith, Roff (August 2008). "The Ghost Ship of Filey Bay". National Geographic (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society). ISSN 0027-9358. OCLC 6451257. http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/filey-bay/john-paul-jones-shipwreck-text/1.
External links
- Detailed Plank on Frame wooden model of the Bonhomme Richard
- Search for the Bonhomme Richard Clive Cussler recounts his elusive search for the Bonhomme Richard.
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