‘Out booms, out booms,’ our skipper cried,
‘Out booms and give her sheet,’
And the swiftest keel that ever was launched
Shot ahead of the British fleet.
And amidst a thundering shower of shot,
With stern sails hoisted away,
Down the North Channel Paul Jones did steer
Just at the break of day.”
The privateersmen were as ready to fight, if needs be, as were these seamen that chose to sail with Paul Jones in the Continental service. All British merchantmen carried guns and heavy crews to man them, and while many of them thought it wisdom to strike their colors to a heavily armed privateer without a show of resistance, the “packet ships” and Indiamen were capable of desperate actions. The American privateers ran the gauntlet also of the king’s ships which swarmed in our waters, and they met and engaged both these and British privateers as formidable as themselves. The notable sea fights of this kind are sometimes best told in the words of the men who fought them. Captain David Ropes, of an old Salem seafaring family, was killed in a privateer action which was described in the following letter written by his lieutenant, later Captain William Gray. Their vessel was the private armed ship Jack of Salem, carrying twelve guns and sixty men.
“Salem, June 12, 1782.