Both ships bore away before the wind and neared each other to within striking distance. Boom! a broadside roared from the side of the Drake, and the fight had begun.
Crash! Crash! Muskets spoke from the rigging of the Ranger, where several seamen had climbed in the endeavor to pick off the gunners on the deck of the British warship. There were one hundred and fifty-seven men upon the Drake; Paul Jones had one hundred and twenty-six. The Drake’s battery was sixteen nine-pounders and four sixes. Thus—you see—the advantage was clearly with the Britishers.
Both boats swung along under full canvas, pounding away at each other like prize-fighters. Spars were shattered; sails ripped; masts splintered in the hail of iron. And—as the fight progressed—it could be plainly seen that the marksmanship of those upon the Drake was infinitely less accurate than that of the Americans.
“Every shot of our men told,” said Jones—not long afterwards. “They gave the Drake three broadsides for two, right along, at that. The behavior of my crew in this engagement more than justifies the representations I have often made, of what American sailors would do, if given a chance at the enemy in his own waters. We have seen that they fight with courage on our own coast—but fought here, almost in hail of the enemy’s shore.”
From “The Army and Navy of the United States.”
“BEGAN TO HULL THE ‘DRAKE’ BELOW THE WATER-LINE.”
As the two ships were going off the wind, which was light, they both rolled considerably, and together; that is, when the Ranger went down to port, the Drake came up to starboard. The gunners upon the quarter-deck of the Ranger timed their guns, so that they were fired as their muzzles went down and the enemy’s side arose. By this practice they began to hull the Drake below the water-line.
“Sink the English! Sink the English!” cried the powder-blackened fighters.