When the war began, most people believed that the British navy would crush the undermanned
American fleet.
The Continental Navy used fewer than 100 ships throughout the war, but captured or destroyed
over 200 British vessels.
How did the Patriot navy manage such success?
Much of the success was due to a man now known as the "Father of the United States Navy".
A Scotsman by birth, John Paul began working on British ships at a young age.
After killing the leader of a mutiny, John Paul became an outlaw.
He changed his name to John Paul Jones and fled to the American colonies.
When the war broke out, Jones quickly established himself as a bold and clever sailor.
The British considered him a pirate, as his tactics primarily revolved around raiding
commerce ships.
In early 1778, Jones captured seven British ships and defeated a Royal Navy sloop in English
waters.
"Where is the British Navy?"
an English newspaper declared.
Yet, Jones had only begun.
When France formally recognized the United States, Benjamin Franklin arranged for Jones
to receive a much larger ship from the new allies.
In fact, the French greatly admired Jones and presented him with a fleet of seven vessels
to command.
Jones named his flagship Bonhomme Richard, in honor of Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's
Almanac.
The Richard carried 40 cannon (his previous sloop had 18) and a crew of 380 men that hailed
from 11 different nations.
With his new fleet, Jones tore through the English waters, capturing 17 merchant ships
and 500 prisoners.
The British people were in an uproar, but Jones' most famous moment was yet to come.
On September 23, 1779, Jones launched a moonlight attack on a convoy protected by a British
frigate, the HMS Serapis, and a sloop, the HMS Countess of Scarborough.
When the British captain spotted Jones, he ordered the convoy to flee while the warships
raced to attack the Richard.
Jones knew he was in trouble, but refused to run.
The Serapis had more and bigger cannon, along with copper sheathing which made the vessel
faster than Jones' ship.
Thousands of British gathered along the coast to watch the battle, and Jones put on a show.
The Serapis launched a devastating attack which killed most of Jones' men and knocked
out all but three of his guns.
Many of Jones' officers begged him to surrender, and one made a rush to strike the Richard's
flag (a signal of surrender).
Jones struck the man with a pistol, rendering him unconscious.
Jones, who had been manning one of his three remaining cannon, brought the Richard around
and rammed the Serapis in an attempt to board it.
As the ships locked together, the captain of the Serapis shouted, "Has your ship struck
(surrendered)?"
Jones roared "I have not yet begun to fight!"
as he blasted another cannon at the Serapis' main mast.
One of Jones' topmen eventually crawled onto the Serapis and dropped a grenade into the
powder supply, setting off an explosion that knocked out all but four of the British cannon.
It was still one more than Jones had, but the action convinced the British captain that
he had no hope of defeating the stubborn Scotsman.
The Serapis surrendered to John Paul Jones.
As the Bonhomme Richard sank, Jones sailed the captured Serapis to Holland to be repaired.
Today, the remains of John Paul Jones are entombed at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis,
Maryland.