And as war had already broken out between
France and England, the French King was quite willing to furnish Jones
with a considerable naval force.
A DESPERATE SEA DUEL
Accordingly, in August, 1779, Captain Jones put to sea once more, this
time with a fleet of four vessels. He named his flag-ship Bon Homme
Richard (bo-nom'-r[=e]-shaer'), after the Richard of _Poor Richard's
Almanac_, which you will remember Benjamin Franklin had written.
In this ship, which was old, he set out to cruise along the western coast
of Ireland, in order to capture English merchant vessels. After reaching
the southern point of Ireland, he cruised northward around Scotland and
down its eastern coast. Then he sailed up and down the eastern coast of
England, looking for merchant vessels.
At noon on the 23d of September Jones sighted a fleet of forty-two
merchantmen, guarded by two English ships of war, all sailing from the
north. He at once decided to make an attack. This took place early in the
evening, the action being mainly between the Richard and the English
man-of-war Serapis, which was a large ship, new and swift, and very much
better than the Richard.
During the first hour the American vessel got the worst of the fight and
"was leaking like a basket.
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