- John Paul Jones
On July 6, 1747 in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, future Father of the US Navy John Paul Jones (back then just John Paul) was born. From the early age of 13, John got his parents blessing to sail out on the sea. That first ship he helped sail was called the Friendship. As life continued, John had joined a trade group involved in human trafficking. He quickly came to terms that he did not want to take part in the slave trade so he left his occupation. Later at the age of 21, he was put in command of a ship named John. He and his crew made a couple trips to Jamaica in this ship, but yet again (as he will continue to do often) switched to another, bigger ship, the Betsy of London in 1772.
While still in possession of the Betsy, in 1773 John and his crew sailed to Tobago, an island in Trinidad. There he was attacked by a local tribe leader who swung at him with a club. Out of self defense, John came at him with a sword, killing him. After realizing what he’d just done, John fled to the colonies because he knew he wouldn’t get a fair trial and changed his name to John Paul Jones.
In 1775, the Americans had begun fighting in the Revolutionary war, John taking their side against Britain due to how poorly Britain had treated the Scotts in the past. He proceeded to join the freshly made Continental army, becoming captain of the USS Providence. At this time, he attacked British ships along the Eastern Coastline then continued to sail to Nova Scotia to attack and capture British ships, dealing lots of damage in the process. The British began to see him as a pirate of sorts since he attacked commerce ships.
During one particular fight with the British, Jones’ warship (Bon Homme Richard) connected in combat with one of the British’s most powerful vessels. After many hours of gunshots and fighting, the British asked Jones if he was ready to surrender. He proceeded to exclaim with one can imagine absolute vigor, “I have not yet begun to fight!” After many a victory on coastlines of America and Europe, he was dubbed the “Father of the US Navy”.
The Continental Army later broke apart once the war ended.
Skipping into the future, in 1792 Jones was in Paris and health wise wasn’t doing too well. He was buried at age 45 in a cemetery in France, but his remains were later dug up, verified, and moved to the US Naval Academy chapel in Annapolis, Maryland.
Sources:
https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/people/historical-figures/john-paul-jones.html
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/john-paul-jones
https://www.librarypoint.org/blogs/post/john-paul-jones/
I really enjoyed reading this post, John Paul Jones seems like a compelling character. The fact that he fled from Trinidad to the American colonies because he thought that he wouldn't get a fair trial was particularly interesting to me because it shows how far back the idea of American freedom goes. I would also be curious to know what happened in the time between the Revolutionary war and his death because the end of his life seems rather insignificant compared to his past glory.
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