Naval+Battle+the+Bonhomme+Richard+Defeats+the+Serepis

__ BONHOMME DEFEATS ____ BRITISH AT SEA __

Yesterday on [|September 23, 1779] one of the [|naval] battles happened. It happened off of the coast of [|Flambourogh head], [|England]. Two ships The [|Bonhomme Richard] and the [|Serapis] met there and battled for a near three in a half hours. [|John Paul Jones] was the captain for the American ship. Jones the captain of the ship is only 22 and he helped lead the American to an amazing defeat of the British. [|Captain Richard Pearson] was the Captain of the Serapis.

[| Jones] helped America win against two ships called the [|Serapis] ﻿and the Countess of Scarborough. The Serapis had 50 guns on it and the Countess of Scarborough had about 22 guns on it. The Countess was an alley to British. Jones had to fight against an amazing crew, speed, and good maneuvering skills of the Serapis. The two ships had a lot more guns than the Bonhomme Richard did, this ship only has only 22 guns equipped to it.

Three days before the fight actually started the bailiff's of Scarborough had sent out an emergency call to Bridlington about spotting the Serapis off the coast of Flambourogh head. Then yesterday before the fight started they spotted four ships the Bonhomme [|Richard], Alliance, Pallas and Vengeance. Once the four ships were spotted they called in the Serapis to go and [|investigate].

Then Thats when the fight broke out. The Fight started around[| 3 p.m.] yesterday. It is said by a few people that Captain Pearson asked [|Jones] to surrender twice during the battle. each time Jones answered " Surrender be dammed, I have not begun to fight." When he says this he means that he is serious about winning this battle or loosing when he knows his troops can not handle any more.

The situation in the [|Bonhomme] Richard became extremely worse every second the British were inside the ship. The [|ships] two 18 ponder guns sank into it's salvo. This made the two guns not work hand left the men feel unsafe. While the men were feeling ﻿unsafe they had no idea how to keep on fighting.

The Serapis fired two of their guns at the Bonhomme Richard ship at one of their decks and pretty much [|split] the ship in half. The Bonhomme had water filling inside of it which was making the ship sink to the bottom of the ocean. It also set the ship into [|flames]. Almost half of Jones' crew at this point was either dead or injured.

Once they captured the [|Serapis] Jones was able to get all of his crew onto the ship and save anything that was worth saving. At the end of the night most of his crew and most of the items such as guns, ammo, clothing that was not damaged they went searching for. They had to work as quickly as possible to get everything and everyone safely off of the ship because The Bonhomme Richard was quickly sinking.

The [|Bohomme Richard] was built in France by the East India Company. It served for nearly ten years before the [|American revolution] started. It was named after Jones' who is [|Benjamin Franklin]. He wanted to name it in honor of him because of all the hard work the Franklin has done. About each ship *** VIDEO CLIP
 * Armament || Bonhomme Richard || Serapis ||
 * 18 pdrs || 6 || 20 ||
 * 12 pdrs || 28 ||  ||
 * 9 pdrs || 6 || 20 ||
 * 6 pdrs ||  || 10 ||
 * Total Weight || 498 lbs || 600 lbs ||
 * Broadside Weight || 249 lbs || 300 lbs ||
 * Crew || 322 || 325 ||

[|*** VIDEO CLIP]

Questions-

1. How many ships were actually part of this battle?

2. When were the ships first spotted? Where were they located? And what did the English do when they first saw them?

3. Describe the two two main ships? If you were asked who do you think will win before the started who would you pick and why?