USS Bonhomme Richard (1765)
1014 ts
152 ft ( 45.60 m)
40 ft (12 m)
19ft ( 5.70 m)
380 officers and men
Sail
28 × 12 × 18 pounder 6 pounder 8 × 9 pounder
The first ship that bore the name Bonhomme Richard, was a frigate of the Continental Navy (later the U.S. Navy. ) Was built it. Than merchant ship of the French East India Company under the name of Duc de Duras for trips between France and the Orient
On February 4, 1779 in command of the ships converted by King Louis XVI was. handed over to the Captain John Paul Jones and asked the United States as a loan. In honor of Benjamin Franklin, the diplomatic representatives of the USA in Paris, who published here to Poor Richard 's Almanac (in French Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard ) Jones called the ship Bon Homme Richard. ( However, by law has the correct French spelling Bonhomme Richard. )
First Appearances
In ( nominally French ) Association under the command of Jones with the frigates Alliance, Pallas, the Sloop Vengeance and the French brig Cerf the Bonhomme Richard undertook from June 19, 1779 escorting a convoy from Lorient to Bordeaux then against British ships to operate in the Bay of Biscay. After a collision with the Alliance and the subsequently necessary repair work in Lorient, the association was launched on August 14, 1779 again and walked around the British Isles from the west. This 16 merchant ships were applied as pinches, what the British press led to portray the captain of the Bonhomme Richard as pirates.
Battle of Flamborough Head
On 23 September 1779, the Association met before Flamborough Head to the British "Baltic Fleet ", which consisted of 41 merchant vessels and 40 guns of the two-decker Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough 20 cannons Corvette was protected.
Around 18:00 clock the Bonhomme Richard opened fire on the Serapis, which led to a four-hour, fierce combat and during this period nearly half of the two crews lost their lives. After the first Serapis was able to use their superior firepower and a British victory began to emerge, called on the captain, the Bonhomme Richard, to surrender. Then Jones replied with the now legendary in the U.S. saying, "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight! " ( German: " My Lord, I have not started yet with the fighting !").
Jones then managed to snag the two ships into each other and off so the greater maneuverability and fire superiority of the Serapis. An attempt by the Americans to board the Serapis, failed, as the counter-attack of the British. Finally, a ship from the Franco- American Association of Bonhomme Richard came up with gunfire to help (but not without serious collateral damage from this cause ). In response, the Serapis was around 22:30 clock.
The Bonhomme Richard, burning and sprung a leak, resisted all rescue efforts and eventually sank at 11:00 clock on Saturday, 25 September, 1779. John Paul Jones sailed the captured Serapis to the Netherlands to get it repaired there.
The outcome of the Battle of Flamborough Head contributed to the fact that the French crown continued to give support to the former British colonies.
Search for the wreck
The downfall place of Bonhomme Richard was until today, despite extensive efforts not be located. As far as the still present ship's papers indicate it was involved in the rescue of the drifting vessel and has taken no cutlery in the sinking. The area where the wreck is suspected in about 30 feet of water in front of Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, could not be found, since a considerable number of ship and aircraft wrecks is available in this area. The trawling may have played its part by has probably destroyed the wooden wreck.
In the 1950s, a fisherman found the remains of a French musket in his net. It can be assumed that it was a remnant of the Bonhomme Richard. The site located six miles off the headland.