 
 A Filey StoryJOHN PAUL JONES AND THE BATTLE OFF FLAMBOROUGH HEAD 1779.
n an autumn evening of 1779 crowds of people on the Yorkshire Cliffs watched one of the most stubborn naval battles in British history. The battle, which took place off Flamborough Head, was between the American squadron of John Paul Jones and two British ships of war.This was taking place during the period in history when the American colonies were fighting for their independence from England. Jones who had had much success harassing, sinking, and capturing English vessels when operating in America had been sent to France in November 1777 where he came under the influence of Benjamin Franklin who represented America in that country. Earlier that year France had recognised the independence of America and joined the colonies in their battle for independence. Jones was supplied with a small squadron of ships of which the largest was the Duc de Duras, which he renamed Bonhomme Richard. He scoured and harassed shipping around the coast of Britain, capturing and sinking English vessels and taking many prisoners. 
His squadron comprised the Bonhomme Richard with 40 guns, the Alliance a frigate with 36 guns and commanded by a Frenchman, the Pallas a French ship of 32 guns, the Cerf with 18 guns and the Vengeance with 12 guns.September 1779 found him chasing and sinking vessels off Flamborough Head and around the Humber area, when on the eventful day of 23rd September 1779 he spotted a fleet of forty-one merchantmen from the Baltic escorted by two British warships, the Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough, bearing NNE. When the fleet saw the squadron of John Paul Jones bearing down on them, they set sail for the refuge of the shore; the two warships steered to intercept the squadron and prepared for battle. All afternoon the American ships manoeuvred to get between the convoy and the land and eventually succeeded by sundown. At seven o`clock, with a full moon, the Bonhomme Richard found herself facing the Serapis. The English ships had succeed in their aim of getting between the Americans and the convoy. Watchers on the coast from the Castle Hill at Scarborough, along the cliffs of Filey Bay to Flamborough Head and south of Flamborough on the shores of Bridlington Bay, could see the ensuing battle, with the flashes from the guns and the boom of the discharges. The principal interest in the battle centres on the struggle between the chief protagonists: the Bonhomme Richard of John Paul Jones and the Serapis captained by Richard Pearson. There was a secondary conflict between the Pallas and the warship Countess of Scarborough, which was taken by the Pallas after a two-hour battle. The battle was intense and Jones recognising his ships inferior strength sought to keep the battle at close quarters. In the close battle the Serapis struck into the Bonhomme Richard and Jones took the opportunity of making both ships fast. The battle continued fiercely with the ships locked together. A bloody close battle developed with both ships being badly damaged, with many of the crew of both ships being killed or wounded. By 8.0.clock the Bonhomme Richard was leaking badly. During the later stages of the battle the Alliance came up to join in but incredibly fired first at the Bonhomme Richard, instead of at the Serapis and did considerable damage, before firing at the Serapis. 
The Bonhomme Richard was an almost shattered wreck but the Serapis was in a worst state as the Alliance gave her the same attention that it had given the Bonhomme Richard.Captain Pearson gave up his gallant defence as he believed that no further good could result from continuing the combat now that the Alliance had joined in. He surrendered his sword to John Paul Jones on the deck of the Bonhomme Richard and the battle was over. Now began the struggle to save the Bonhomme Richard. The crew with the help of the released prisoners that she had been carrying in the hold fought long and hard at the pumps to keep the ship afloat. Fire was also raging on the ship and it was not until 10 o'clock the next morning before the flames were put out. The struggle to save the Bonhomme Richard from sinking continued all day but she could not be saved. Jones removed his wounded, and crew on to the Serapis; and on the 25th September 1779 the Bonhomme Richard finally sank in Filey Bay, off Flamborough Head. Jones lost most of his clothes, books and papers and his personal possessions. The Serapis set sail with Jones in command, with his captives aboard, bound for France, but a change of plan en route saw him land at Texel in Holland. Captain Richard Pearson whose objective was to save his valuable convoy from falling into the hands of the enemy, that he did for his ships escaped into Scarborough and other ports, had to suffer the trials of a court martial. He was honourably acquitted. Hull, Scarborough, and other towns made him a freeman and he received a knighthood from King George III. Captain Landais the treacherous Frenchman who commanded the Alliance and showed neither courage nor obedience in his part of the battle was shortly afterwards dismissed from the service on the grounds of insanity! John Paul Jones won the greatest glory of his life with the victory off the Yorkshire coast. He was overwhelmed with praise and flattery from Benjamin Franklin, Congress, and many other sources. The King of France, Louis XVI, presented him with a sword and made him a Knight of the Order of Merit. 
The name of John Paul Jones was much hated in England as it was much glorified in America. That he was a clever and bold seaman cannot be in doubt but he was considered by many people to be a renegade and a ruffian. The extent of his hatred in England is exemplified by the account that in early 1790, so a contemporary letter stated, John Paul Jones landed at Harwich from a packet boat dressed as a Russian admiral (he went to Russia in 1788 to join their navy). He was not recognised until his name was seen on packages at the custom house. Then there was such a hostile demonstration by the people who surrounded the inn where he was staying that he had to secretly escape from the town the same day he had landed.He died in 1792 aged forty-five in Paris, neglected and almost forgotten and was buried in an obscure cemetery. Generations passed and the American people began to consider John Paul Jones to be the Father of the American Navy. Measures were taken to find his resting place, which was eventually discovered at the St Louis Cemetery, in Paris. His remains were exhumed on the 1st April 1905 and on the 6th July 1905 five hundred and eight American sailors and marines, from four warships that had landed at Cherbourg, escorted the body from the American Episcopal Church to the Gare des Invalides.The body was taken on to Cherbourg and placed on the flagship Brooklyn, which conveyed it to America. 
Finally on 26th January 1913, through the intervention of President Theodore Roosevelt, and with an impressive naval ceremony, the remains of John Paul Jones were re-interred in a marble sarcophagus at the Naval Academy Chapel at Annapolis, Maryland.
Inscribed in the floor encircling the sarcophagus are the names of the ships commanded by Jones. Exhibited around the walls of the crypt are Jones' medals and other mementoes of his life.
Set in brass in the marble floor at the head of the sarcophagus is the inscription:JOHN PAUL JONES, 1747-1792
U.S. NAVY, 1775-1783 HE GAVE OUR NAVY ITS EARLIEST TRADITIONS OF HEROISM AND VICTORY ERECTED BY THE CONGRESS, A.D. 1912 The Search for the Wreck of the Bonhomme Richard.On the 18th July 2002 the British government department, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, made a designation order under the Protection of Wrecks Act of 1973 on the wreck in Filey Bay. As a result of the order it is an offence to interfere with the wreck and licensed divers are able to visit the site only following the approval of written applications to the government department mentioned above. The Act is in place to ensure the protection of shipwrecks and to safeguard marine heritage for the future and to prevent such wrecks being stripped by treasure hunters. The protected area extends 300 metres radius centred on Latitude 54E 11'.502 North, Longitude 000E 13'. 481 West. Having searched for many a year for the wreck of the Bonhomme Richard, John Adams, who went on to form the Filey Underwater Research Unit, discovered the wreck in question. Evidence including radiocarbon analysis dates the wreck betwee 1776 and 1800 and although there is no compelling evidence to believe that the wreck is definitely the Bonhomme Richard there is, it is believed, enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that it may well be the wreck of that vessel. Further evidence is necessary, especially the finding of the vessel's guns, to confirm that the wreck is definitely that of the Bonhomme Richard. Further interesting details on the wreck and the painstaking process being followed to determine its origin can be found at http://www.fileybay.org.uk/FURU001.htm and at the "Home of the Filey Underwater Research Unit" http://www.fileybay.com click here to see "The Battle off Flamborough Head - Extract from the Journals of John Paul Jones." click here to see "John Paul Jones(1747 - 1792) A Brief History." click here to see photos of The John Paul Jones Cottage and Museum."
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