"Une petite escadre de corsaires franco-américaine commandée par John Paul Jones rencontre un convoi britannique de quarante et une voiles. L’escorte anglaise se porte à la rencontre des alliés. A quelque distance de la côte anglaise, le combat s’engage .

L’escadre corsaire est composée de cinq navires :

• "Le Bonhomme Richard"  un ancien courrier des Indes commandé par Jones (armé de six pièces de 18, de vingt-huit de 12 et de huit de 9 sur les sabords avant et arrière ).

• "L’Alliance"  une frégate française de trente-deux canons, commandée par Landais

• "La Pallas" un marchant armé de trente canons

• "La Vengeance" un autre marchant de douze pièces

• "Le Cerf" un cotre de dix-huit canons

L’escorte anglaise est composée de deux navires :

"La Serapis"  une frégate de quarante-quatre canons commandée par le capitaine Richard Pearson

"La Countess of Scarbourough",  un navire auxiliaire de vingt pièces

 Pendant que le convoi s’enfuit, la Serapis et Le Bonhomme Richard débutent le combat aux alentours de 19h20 ( l’Américain subit ses premiers dommages du fait de ses propres pièces de 18 en première bordée ). La Pallas attaque la Countess of Scarbourough dont elle finira par venir à bout. Les deux petits navires corsaires ne prendront pas part au combat.

L’Alliance quand à elle tire fort mal, indifféremment sur L’Anglais et l’Américain. Surclassé et isolé, le corsaire américain encaisse durement les coups de la frégate anglaise et se retrouve désarmé avec un équipage démoralisé et un navire prenant l’eau de toutes parts . A son équipage qui le supplie de se rendre, Jones répond qu’il coulera plutôt que d’amener. Il hurle alors au commandant adverse : « Je n’ai même pas encore commencé à me battre ».

En dépit de l’inexpérience de son équipage, Jones se lance à l’abordage et à la deuxième tentative les navires s’accrochent. Il est 20h30. Alors que la mêlée fait rage sur les ponts, des prisonniers détenus sur le Bonhomme Richard ( les corsaires avaient fait trois prises quelque jours auparavant ) et libérés par Jones pour leur éviter la noyade semblent venir au secours des marins anglais. Jones leur ordonne alors, s’ils veulent avoir la vie sauve, de s’activer aux pompes.

A ce moment seulement Landais, menaçant d’une bordée en enfilade arrière la Serapis force Pearson à se rendre. Il est 22h30. Le Bonhomme Richard ayant sombré, c’est sur la Serapis que Jones rentra triomphalement à Lorient. Ses mérites ne furent reconnus que bien plus tard par la jeune nation américaine. Pearson, bien qu’anobli pour son héroïque résistance ne devait plus recevoir de commandement.

              d'après: http://www.histofig.com/naval

"At quarter past seven the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis were on parallel courses about 800 feet apart. Capt. Pearson hailed once and then, as he hailed a second time, both ships fired their broadsides. Two of the 18-pounders that Jones had fitted in the gunroom jumped off their carriages as they were fired, wounding a number of the men and lifting the deck above. Since, after this accident, the men could no longer be persuaded to work the guns, the Richard was now reduced to her original armament with a total weigh of metal in each broadside of 315 lb. Pearson attempted to go round the bow of the Richard, rake her, (that is fire directly into an opponent`s bow or stern from a position where the enemy broadside cannot be brought to bear on the attacker) but Richard forged ahead and Jones was nearly able to grapple and board the Serapis. By this time over 80 of the 144 men working the gun deck battery of Richard were either killed or wounded and the deck was slippery with blood and fragments of bodies. She was riding two feet lower due to water entering through shot holes in the hull.

When Alliance appeared on the scene Jones assumed that she had come to his rescue, but instead she fired a broadside into Richard `s stern and sailed away to the northward. Jones realised that his ship was being shot to pieces and his only hope was to board the enemy. The chance came when the anchor on Serapis caught on Richard and the French marine sharpshooters prevented the British from cutting it free. Because the American flag had been shot down, Pearson hailed to ask if they were surrendering, "No, I`ve not yet begun to fight!" was the reply. The master-at-arms, thinking Richard was about to sink, opened the hatch to release more than 200 prisoners held below, but when they tried to swarm on deck they were held back by Midshipman Potter and a few men.

The battle had now been in progress for over two hours and the ships were so close that the burning wads from the British guns had set fire to the wreckage on Richard`s decks. Jones ordered Lieut. Edward Stack to have some hand-grenades dropped down Serapis`s main hatch. On the third try one ignited a pile of cartridges causing a tremendous explosion which killed or wounded more than 50 men.

Alliance reappeared, fired round and grape shot indiscriminately into the sterns of both ships and sailed off. The sharpshooters on Richard had shot eleven men at the wheel of Serapis, killing seven outright and her poop-deck guns brought the British main mast crashing down on the deck. At this point Jones mustered a boarding party of 25-30 men and, led by act. Lieut. John Maynant, they boarded the Serapis, carrying all before them. Capt. Pearson, having saved his convoy, lowered the flag himself and surrendered the ship to Richard Dale, the First Lieutenant of Bonhomme Richard.

Bonhomme Richard. was badly holed so Jones transferred the remaining members of his crew to Serapis and sailed for the Texel. The American ship sank on the 25th and two efforts to locate the wreck have been unsuccessful."

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.