Skip to main content

Secondary sourceArtifact1765–1779

USS Bonhomme Richard (1765)

1765–1779

John Paul Jones's flagship at the Battle of Flamborough Head, a converted French merchant ship that sank after capturing the British frigate Serapis.

This was Jones's flagship, lost in the battle that made him famous after he captured the British Serapis.

Ask John Paul Jones about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Black-and-white print of a naval battle at sea under a moonlit sky. A large three-masted ship in the foreground is wreathed in gunsmoke, with full sails and flags. A smaller two-masted ship sits at left, and choppy water fills the bottom.
Battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, Sept. 23, 1779. Woodcut print.

About this source

What it is

The Bonhomme Richard was a 42-gun frigate of the Continental Navy, named for Benjamin Franklin. Originally a French East India merchant ship built in 1765, it was refitted for war and became John Paul Jones's command. It sank after its famous battle in 1779.

Why it matters

The ship is forever linked to Jones's victory over the British frigate Serapis on 23 September 1779, one of the most celebrated naval actions of the American Revolution. That the ship sank even in victory shows how costly and desperate the fight was, and the image shown here, a period woodcut print, reflects how quickly the battle became legend.

Look closer

  • What details in the print suggest this was a close, violent fight rather than an easy victory?
  • Why might an artist choose to show the battle at night, under a moonlit sky?
  • What does the ship's eventual sinking tell you about the real cost of naval victories in this period?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of John Paul Jones on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More John Paul Jones sources

Meet the AI John Paul Jones →
Oval painted portrait of a man in a black tricorn hat with a cockade, wearing a navy coat with gold epaulettes over a red waistcoat, white cravat, and a blue ribbon with a gold medal. Dark brown background.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of John Paul Jones

Charles Willson Peale · c. 1781

Photograph of a bronze bust of a man in an 18th-century military coat with epaulettes, a high cravat, and a buttoned jacket, on a pedestal inscribed with text. Plain grey background.Sculpture

Primary source

Bust of John Paul Jones

Jean-Antoine Houdon · 1780

Black-and-white engraving titled 'Paul Jones the Pirate': a bearded man in a feathered hat with a skull-and-crossbones emblem brandishes a pistol and sword on a ship deck amid smoke and fighting sailors, with a cannon in the foreground.Painting

Primary source

Paul Jones the Pirate

A. Park of London

Scan of a handwritten two-column manuscript on aged, browned paper. The left column is in English under the heading 'Treaty of Alliance', and the right column is in French under 'Traité d'alliance eventuelle et défensive'. The text opens by naming the Most Christian King and the United States of North America.Document

Primary source

Treaty of Alliance with France

6 February 1778

Front of a silver-toned round medal showing a left-facing profile bust of a man in a high-collared military coat with epaulette. Inscribed around the rim: IOANNI PAVLO JONES CLASSIS PRAEFECTO, and at the bottom COMITIA AMERICANA.Artifact

Primary source

John Paul Jones Congressional Gold Medal

Augustin Dupré · 1787

Ready when you are

Start chatting with John Paul Jones now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions