Becoming a Mariner
Born in Scotland in 1747 as John Paul, he was a seafarer by the age of twelve. He turned up in Virginia and took the surname Jones, for disguise, after killing a sailor in self-defense in 1773. The Continental Congress made him a lieutenant in 1775 because he was already an experienced captain. He was promoted him to captain the next year.
Helping the Americans
In 1777 he sailed to France on the ship the Ranger. In Paris he found the American, Benjamin Franklin willing to listen to his plans to win against the British. He asked to try hit-and-run attacks on the enemy's weakest places and kidnapping an important person to make the British government free American sailors from English jails. Early in 1778 Jones sailed boldly into the Irish Sea and attacked a small town in Scotland. Not since 1667 had a British seaport suffered such shame. A second raid on St. Mary's Isle failed to take Lord Selkirk as a hostage because he was away from home.
Battling the Serapis
France became America's ally, but Jones had to be satisfied with a lot less than he had hoped for in men and ships. With an old, clumsy ship renamed Bon Homme Richard (in honor of Benjamin Franklin), in the summer of 1779 Jones led a small squadron around the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. Then, on September 23, he fell into battle with a large British convoy from the Baltic.
The most spectacular naval event of the Revolution followed: a duel between the broken Bon Homme Richard and the British Serapis, a strong, new ship. After each captain, tried without success to get across his opponent's bow to deliver a broadside blow, Jones lashed his ship to the Serapis in order to board and fight. Jones's sharpshooters soon drove the enemy from the Serapis's deck with their musket and grenade fire, but below the deck the enemy cannon roared on, wrecking the Bon Homme Richard's topsides. The English captain's got scared when his main mast began to shake so he surrendered. Jones left the sinking Richard, took over the Serapis, and sailed to Holland.
After the war
Most of Jones's life after the war was spent in Europe. He made a final visit to the United States in 1787, when Congress voted to award him a gold medal for his outstanding services. He was the only naval officer of the American Revolution who was so honored.
Jones grew very sick before his death on July 18, 1792. He was buried in Paris. His remains were finally found in 1905 and brought to Annapolis, Maryland, where they were placed in the crypt of the Naval Academy chapel.
Bibliography
"John Paul Jones." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC
Born in Scotland in 1747 as John Paul, he was a seafarer by the age of twelve. He turned up in Virginia and took the surname Jones, for disguise, after killing a sailor in self-defense in 1773. The Continental Congress made him a lieutenant in 1775 because he was already an experienced captain. He was promoted him to captain the next year.
Helping the Americans
In 1777 he sailed to France on the ship the Ranger. In Paris he found the American, Benjamin Franklin willing to listen to his plans to win against the British. He asked to try hit-and-run attacks on the enemy's weakest places and kidnapping an important person to make the British government free American sailors from English jails. Early in 1778 Jones sailed boldly into the Irish Sea and attacked a small town in Scotland. Not since 1667 had a British seaport suffered such shame. A second raid on St. Mary's Isle failed to take Lord Selkirk as a hostage because he was away from home.
Battling the Serapis
France became America's ally, but Jones had to be satisfied with a lot less than he had hoped for in men and ships. With an old, clumsy ship renamed Bon Homme Richard (in honor of Benjamin Franklin), in the summer of 1779 Jones led a small squadron around the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. Then, on September 23, he fell into battle with a large British convoy from the Baltic.
The most spectacular naval event of the Revolution followed: a duel between the broken Bon Homme Richard and the British Serapis, a strong, new ship. After each captain, tried without success to get across his opponent's bow to deliver a broadside blow, Jones lashed his ship to the Serapis in order to board and fight. Jones's sharpshooters soon drove the enemy from the Serapis's deck with their musket and grenade fire, but below the deck the enemy cannon roared on, wrecking the Bon Homme Richard's topsides. The English captain's got scared when his main mast began to shake so he surrendered. Jones left the sinking Richard, took over the Serapis, and sailed to Holland.
After the war
Most of Jones's life after the war was spent in Europe. He made a final visit to the United States in 1787, when Congress voted to award him a gold medal for his outstanding services. He was the only naval officer of the American Revolution who was so honored.
Jones grew very sick before his death on July 18, 1792. He was buried in Paris. His remains were finally found in 1905 and brought to Annapolis, Maryland, where they were placed in the crypt of the Naval Academy chapel.
Bibliography
"John Paul Jones." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC