In 1775, the American War of Independence broke out between
Britain and the colonies and Jones was commissioned as a lieutenant
by the Continental Congress. As commander of the 'Providence' and
then of the 'Alfred', he cruised along the eastern seaboard
inflicting heavy damage on British shipping and fisheries. In 1778,
as a captain, he sailed the 'Ranger' to Brest and from there to
Whitehaven, where he made a surprise attack on the port and later
captured the British sloop 'Drake'. The following year the French,
now at war with Britain, furnished Jones with a small squadron of
warships, whose flagship he named the 'Bonhomme Richard', and with
this force he engaged shipping in British waters. He fought a
desperate battle off Flambourough Head with the much superior
'Serapis', forcing the British man-of-war to surrender before his
own crippled flagship sank.
After this he spent a lot of time in Paris, where he negotiated
prize money for the ships he had captured; he then returned to
America to be presented with a gold medal from Congress. In 1788,
he was made a rear-admiral in the Russian navy and took part in
operations against the Turks in the Black Sea. Jealous Russian
officers intrigued against him and he was recalled to St
Petersburg, and soon afterwards he left once more for Paris, where
he died in 1792. More than a century later, in 1905, his body was
tracked down and a fleet of American warships carried it to
Annapolis, Maryland, where it now rests in the United States Naval
Academy.
