On April 10, 1778, Paul Jones set out on what proved to be a memorable cruise.
You remember that when he first went to sea, as a boy, he sailed from Whitehaven. This town is on the English coast, just across the Solway Firth from John Paul's old home.
He knew there were large shipping yards there, and he determined to set fire to them. He planned to reach the harbor in the night, and burn the ships while the people were asleep.
Because of the wind and tides, it was nearly midnight when he arrived. He found three hundred vessels of different kinds lying in the harbor. His men were put into two small boats, and each boat was ordered to set fire to half the ships.
It was nearly daylight when they rowed away from the Ranger. Nothing could be heard but the splashing of their oars. Their flickering torches showed to them the old sleeping town, with the many white ships along the shore.
Leaving orders that the fire be speedily kindled, Captain Jones took with him a few men, and scaled the walls of the batteries which protected the harbor. He locked the sleeping sentinels in the guardhouse and spiked the cannon.
Then, sending his men back to the harbor, he went, with one man only, to another fort, which was a quarter of a mile away. Here he also spiked the guns.
After all this had been done he returned to his boats to find that his sailors had done nothing. Not one ship was on fire!
The lieutenant in charge told Paul Jones that their torches had gone out. "Anyway," he said, "nothing can be gained by burning poor people's property."
Determined that they should not leave the harbor until something was destroyed, Paul Jones ran to a neighboring house and got a light. With this he set fire to the largest ship.