1. Colonists fight the British Navy
War at Sea
Colonists fight the British Navy

2. Warm Up Questions
Why did the colonists need to challenge Britain’s control of the sea?
How are they going to challenge the British, without their own navy?

3. War at Sea The fighting was not only on land
The colonists needed to fight a naval battle
Why?
British blockades
No trade--Britain controlled all routes
Limited aid from foreign countries
How did they get a navy??

4. Privateer Colonists used privateers to fight naval battles
Privately owned ship that a wartime government grants permission to attack an enemy’s ships
They would capture a ship, sell its cargo, and split the profits
Desire for money and patriotism motivated the privateers
During the war, they captured hundreds of British ships
British merchants wanted the war to end
Loosing money!!!

5. John Paul Jones Most famous privateer, and naval hero
B. John Jones: 7/6/1747 in Scotland D. 7/18/1792
Son of a gardener
At age of 12, entered the British merchant marines
1769--Received his first command
1773--Killed a crewman who was attempting a mutiny
Rather than stand trial, he fled to North America
British now considered him a pirate

6. John Paul Jones

7. John Paul Jones cont..
Concealed identity by adding “Jones” to his last name
1775--Went to Philadelphia; given a lieutenant’s rank in the Continental Navy
Helped from members in congress
1776--Captian of the Providence
Destroyed British ships in Nova Scotia
Captured 16 British ships
1777--Captain of the Ranger
Sailed to France: Terrorized the coasts of England and Scotland
Destroyed many British vessels

8. John Paul Jones cont… 1779--France honored him with a ship
Named the ship: Bonhomme Richard
Good Man Richard in honor of Benjamin Franklin
Patrolled the English coast and given command of a combined American and French fleet
Sept. 23, approached a British convey led by the warship Serapis

9. Bonhomme Richard vs. Serapis
Sept. 23, 1779 the two ships began fighting
Jones rammed the Serapis, and the ships became locked together
Two warships fired at each other
Jones’s ship was damaged, on fire, and sinking
The British captain demanded he surrender
Jones replied, “I have not yet begun to fight!”
The battle went on for over three hours!!!
Finally, the Serapis’ main mast cracked and fell
The Captain of the Serapis surrendered
The Bonhomme Richard was so damaged, that it sunk
John Paul Jones and his crew sailed away in the Serapis

10. Bonhomme Richard

11. Serapis

12. Bonhomme vs. Serapis

13. Bonhomme vs. Serapis

14. Bonhomme vs. Serapis

16. John Paul Jones cont… Became known as the Father of the American Navy
Congress thanked him and promised him command of a new ship called America
This fell through, and he became a naval advisor
He never again held a major American command at sea
1788--Sailed for Russian Empress Catherine the Great
July 18, 1792 died of pneumonia and buried in Paris
His body was buried in an unmarked grave
1905--Teddy Roosevelt sent expedition to find his body
Brought it back to the United States: Buried in Annapolis, U.S. Naval Academy

17. John Paul Jones’ Tomb