Okla-homey
4/23/2008, 06:53 AM
April 23, 1778: John Paul Jones burns Whitehaven, England
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/9962/john15c20john20paul20jones2su.jpg
230 years ago at 8 a.m. on this day in 1778, John Paul Jones, with 30 volunteers from his ship, USS Ranger, launches a surprise attack on the two harbor forts at Whitehaven, England.
Scottish-born John Paul Jones first sailed to America as a cabin boy and lived for a time in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where his brother had a business. He later served on slavers and merchantmen and proved an able seaman. After he killed a sailor while suppressing a mutiny, he went to the American colonies to escape possible British prosecution.
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/2144/johnpbirth4lc.gif
Jones' Scottish birthplace is maintained as a shrine to the "Father of the US Navy" by the British government.
With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, he traveled to Philadelphia and was commissioned a senior lieutenant (O-3) in the new Continental Navy. He soon distinguished himself in actions against British ships in the Bahamas, the Atlantic, and the English Channel.
On this day in 1778, Jones ordered two boats with landing parties aboard to go ashore in England and raise hell. One boat successfully took the southern fort, but the second boat, assigned to attack to the northern fort, returned to Ranger without having done so, claiming to have been scared off by a strange noise.
To compensate, Jones decided to burn the southern fort; the blaze ultimately consumed the entire town. It was the only American raid on English shores during the American Revolution.
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/8247/240pxcumbriaoutlinemapwjf3.png
Whitehaven is a small coastal town in Cumbria on England's left coast on the Irish Sea.
Later the same day, Jones continued from Whitehaven, where he began his sailing career, to his home territory of Kirkcudbright Bay, Scotland. There he intended to abduct the Earl of Selkirk, and then exchange him for American sailors held captive by Britain.
Although he did not find the earl at home, Jones’ crew was able to steal all his silver, including his wife’s teapot, still containing her breakfast tea. From Scotland, Jones sailed across the Irish Sea to Carrickfergus, where Ranger captured HMS Drake after delivering fatal wounds to the British ship’s captain and lieutenant.
In September of 1779, after taking command of the Continental warship Bonhomme Richard, Jones won a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war HMS Serapis and HMS Countess of Scarborough off the east coast of England.
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/1448/serapisandbon0yb.jpg
A epic naval battle to the death
Bonhomme Richard was an old French frigate, presented to the Continental Navy by France in hopes she would be used well against the British. Her name literally means "Poor Richard" au francais in recognition of Ben Franklin's witty periodical "Poor Richard's Almanac" which, like Jerry Lewis, was wildly popular in France for no apparent reason.
While certainly appreciated, the ship was quite long in the tooth, and had quite a bit of rotten timber. Jones did his best with her nonetheless and took up a cruise around the British Isles looking for a fight.
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/2140/johnrichard8gf.jpg
Bonhomme Richard in foreground, Serapis and Countess behind
Amidst the September 22, 1779 sea battle and after inflicting considerable damage to the old Bonhomme Richard, Richard Pearson, Serapis' skipper, asked Jones if he had struck his colors, the naval signal indicating surrender.
From his disabled ship, Jones replied, "I have not yet begun to fight," and after three more hours of furious fighting Serapis and Countess of Scarborough surrendered to him. After the victory, the Americans transferred to Serapis from Bonhomme Richard. The following day, leaking like a sieve, Bonhomme Richard promptly sank.
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/4555/jpjonesfight5wv.jpg
Jones yelling at Pearson. Your correspondent believes the experienced old salt Jones very probably peppered that "I have not yet begun to fight!*" line with a few extra expletives -- but that's just me. ;)
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/4462/johnjonesflag2og.png
Jones' American ensign seen here, was the first American flag ever saluted by a foreign power when he put into a Dutch port flying this flag aboard the now Continental Navy warship Serapis.
Jones was hailed as a great hero in France, but recognition in the United States was somewhat belated. He continued to serve the United States until 1787 and then served briefly in the Russian navy before moving to France, where he died in 1792 at the age of 45, amid the blood and chaos of the French Revolution. He was buried in an unmarked grave.
In 1905, his remains were located under the direction of the U.S. ambassador to France and then escorted back to America by U.S. warships. His body was later enshrined in a crypt at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7690/xxxxxxxxjohn3ffhf1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Jones' tomb at the USNA
* I expect Jones' words were prolly more like, "I have not yet begun to fight ya English bastage! Before I'm done you and your lime-sucking crew of English sodomites will be beggin' for mercy.":D
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/3859/image2841pj.jpg
USS John Paul Jones...DDG 53. A modern guided missile destroyer.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/4169/insane7zo8iz.jpg
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/9962/john15c20john20paul20jones2su.jpg
230 years ago at 8 a.m. on this day in 1778, John Paul Jones, with 30 volunteers from his ship, USS Ranger, launches a surprise attack on the two harbor forts at Whitehaven, England.
Scottish-born John Paul Jones first sailed to America as a cabin boy and lived for a time in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where his brother had a business. He later served on slavers and merchantmen and proved an able seaman. After he killed a sailor while suppressing a mutiny, he went to the American colonies to escape possible British prosecution.
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/2144/johnpbirth4lc.gif
Jones' Scottish birthplace is maintained as a shrine to the "Father of the US Navy" by the British government.
With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, he traveled to Philadelphia and was commissioned a senior lieutenant (O-3) in the new Continental Navy. He soon distinguished himself in actions against British ships in the Bahamas, the Atlantic, and the English Channel.
On this day in 1778, Jones ordered two boats with landing parties aboard to go ashore in England and raise hell. One boat successfully took the southern fort, but the second boat, assigned to attack to the northern fort, returned to Ranger without having done so, claiming to have been scared off by a strange noise.
To compensate, Jones decided to burn the southern fort; the blaze ultimately consumed the entire town. It was the only American raid on English shores during the American Revolution.
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/8247/240pxcumbriaoutlinemapwjf3.png
Whitehaven is a small coastal town in Cumbria on England's left coast on the Irish Sea.
Later the same day, Jones continued from Whitehaven, where he began his sailing career, to his home territory of Kirkcudbright Bay, Scotland. There he intended to abduct the Earl of Selkirk, and then exchange him for American sailors held captive by Britain.
Although he did not find the earl at home, Jones’ crew was able to steal all his silver, including his wife’s teapot, still containing her breakfast tea. From Scotland, Jones sailed across the Irish Sea to Carrickfergus, where Ranger captured HMS Drake after delivering fatal wounds to the British ship’s captain and lieutenant.
In September of 1779, after taking command of the Continental warship Bonhomme Richard, Jones won a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war HMS Serapis and HMS Countess of Scarborough off the east coast of England.
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/1448/serapisandbon0yb.jpg
A epic naval battle to the death
Bonhomme Richard was an old French frigate, presented to the Continental Navy by France in hopes she would be used well against the British. Her name literally means "Poor Richard" au francais in recognition of Ben Franklin's witty periodical "Poor Richard's Almanac" which, like Jerry Lewis, was wildly popular in France for no apparent reason.
While certainly appreciated, the ship was quite long in the tooth, and had quite a bit of rotten timber. Jones did his best with her nonetheless and took up a cruise around the British Isles looking for a fight.
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/2140/johnrichard8gf.jpg
Bonhomme Richard in foreground, Serapis and Countess behind
Amidst the September 22, 1779 sea battle and after inflicting considerable damage to the old Bonhomme Richard, Richard Pearson, Serapis' skipper, asked Jones if he had struck his colors, the naval signal indicating surrender.
From his disabled ship, Jones replied, "I have not yet begun to fight," and after three more hours of furious fighting Serapis and Countess of Scarborough surrendered to him. After the victory, the Americans transferred to Serapis from Bonhomme Richard. The following day, leaking like a sieve, Bonhomme Richard promptly sank.
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/4555/jpjonesfight5wv.jpg
Jones yelling at Pearson. Your correspondent believes the experienced old salt Jones very probably peppered that "I have not yet begun to fight!*" line with a few extra expletives -- but that's just me. ;)
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/4462/johnjonesflag2og.png
Jones' American ensign seen here, was the first American flag ever saluted by a foreign power when he put into a Dutch port flying this flag aboard the now Continental Navy warship Serapis.
Jones was hailed as a great hero in France, but recognition in the United States was somewhat belated. He continued to serve the United States until 1787 and then served briefly in the Russian navy before moving to France, where he died in 1792 at the age of 45, amid the blood and chaos of the French Revolution. He was buried in an unmarked grave.
In 1905, his remains were located under the direction of the U.S. ambassador to France and then escorted back to America by U.S. warships. His body was later enshrined in a crypt at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7690/xxxxxxxxjohn3ffhf1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Jones' tomb at the USNA
* I expect Jones' words were prolly more like, "I have not yet begun to fight ya English bastage! Before I'm done you and your lime-sucking crew of English sodomites will be beggin' for mercy.":D
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/3859/image2841pj.jpg
USS John Paul Jones...DDG 53. A modern guided missile destroyer.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/4169/insane7zo8iz.jpg