Bonhomme Richard (ship, 1765)
.jpg) Bonhomme Richard |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Launch | 1766 |
| 1. Period of service |
.svg){kind=small}
|
| Commissioning | February 4, 1779 (US Navy) |
| Decommissioning | September 25, 1779 |
| Removed from ship register | September 25, 1779 |
| Whereabouts | Sunk on September 25, 1779 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1014 ts |
| length |
152 ft (45.60 m) |
| width |
40 ft (12 m) |
| Draft |
19 ft (5.70 m) |
| crew |
380 officers and men |
| drive |
sail |
| Armament |
28 × 12 pounds; 6 × 18 pounder; 8 × 9 pounder |
The first ship to be named Bonhomme Richard was a frigate of the Continental Navy (later the US Navy ). It was built as a merchant ship of the French East India Company under the name Duc de Duras for voyages between France and the Orient .
On February 4, 1779, the command of the converted ships was given by King Louis XVI. handed over to Captain John Paul Jones and made available on loan to the USA . In honor of Benjamin Franklin , the US diplomatic representative in Paris, who published the Poor Richard's Almanac ( Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard in French ), Jones named the ship Bon Homme Richard . (However, the correct French spelling Bonhomme Richard has prevailed .)
First missions
In the (nominally French) formation under the command of Jones with the frigates Alliance , Pallas , the Sloop Vengeance and the French brig Cerf , the Bonhomme Richard escorted a convoy from Lorient to Bordeaux from June 19, 1779 , and then against the British Ships operate in the Bay of Biscay . After a collision with the Alliance and the necessary repair work in Lorient, the association ran out again on August 14, 1779 and circled the British Isles from the west. 16 merchant ships were raised as prizes , which prompted the British press to portray the captain of the Bonhomme Richard as a pirate.
Naval battle at Flamborough Head
On September 23, 1779, the association met the British "Baltic Fleet" off Flamborough Head , which consisted of 41 merchant ships and was protected by the 40 cannon two-decker Serapis and the 20 cannon corvette Countess of Scarborough .
At around 6 p.m. the Bonhomme Richard opened fire on the Serapis , which led to a four-hour, bitter battle and in this period of time killed almost half of the two crews. After the Serapis was initially able to use her superior firepower and a British victory began to emerge, the captain asked the Bonhomme Richard to surrender. Jones responded with the saying, which has become legendary in the USA: “ Sir, I have not yet begun to fight! ”(German:“ Sir, I haven't even started fighting! ”).
Jones then succeeded in hooking the two ships together, thus eliminating the Serapis' greater maneuverability and fire superiority . An attempt by the Americans to board the Serapis failed, as did the counter-attack by the British. Finally, a ship from the Franco-American Association of the Bonhomme Richard came to the rescue with gunfire (but not without causing serious collateral damage on it). Thereupon the Serapis surrendered around 10:30 p.m.
The Bonhomme Richard , burning and leaking, withstood all rescue efforts and finally sank at 11:00 on Saturday, September 25, 1779. John Paul Jones sailed with the captured Serapis to the Netherlands to have it repaired there.
The outcome of the naval battle at Flamborough Head helped ensure that the French crown continued to support the former British colonies.
Search for the wreck
The sinking place of the Bonhomme Richard could not be located until today, despite extensive efforts. As far as the still existing ship's papers show, they were busy rescuing the drifting ship and no more cutlery was taken when it went down. The area where the wreck is suspected to be around 30 meters below Flamborough Head in Yorkshire could not be found, as there are a not inconsiderable number of ship and aircraft wrecks in this area. Trawling may also have done its part, possibly destroying 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 holdover from the Bonhomme Richard . The site is six miles from the headland.
literature
- Gardner Weld Allen: A Naval History of the American Revolution , Volume II. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, New York 1913, OCLC 2613121 .
- Edward L. Beach : The United States Navy 200 Years . H. Holt, New York 1986, ISBN 978-0-03-044711-2 , OCLC 12104038 .
- James Fenimore Cooper : History of the Navy of the United States of America . Stringer & Townsend, New York 1856, OCLC 197401914 .
- Frederic Stanhope Hill: Twenty-Six Historic Ships . GP Putnam's Sons, New York and London 1905, OCLC 1667284 .
- Edgar Stanton Maclay, Roy Campbell Smith [1893]: A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1898 , Volume 1. D. Appleton, New York 1898, OCLC 609036 .
- Melissa Ryan: Recapturing the Unsinkable Spirit of the Bonhomme Richard . (PDF) In: Connecticut Sea Grant (Ed.): Wrack Lines Magazine . 6, No. 2, Groton, ISSN 2151-2825 .
- Roff Smith: The Ghost Ship of Filey Bay . In: National Geographic Society (Ed.): National Geographic . , Washington, DC August 2008, ISSN 0027-9358 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The crews consisted of French, continental Americans and pressed British sailors, as well as adventurers from other peoples
- ↑ These three ships also sailed under the American flag, but were, except for the Alliance , on loan from France. They had French captains.
- ↑ The authenticity is disputed
- ↑ The bow of the Bonhomme Richard came to rest on the starboard side of the Serapis , which prevented a broadside