In August, 1776, Congress made Paul Jones captain of the brig "Providence," and he soon showed what kind of a man he was. He came across a fleet of five vessels, and made up his mind to capture the largest of them, which he thought to be a fine merchant ship. He got pretty close up before he learned his mistake. It was the British frigate "Solebay," strong enough to make mince-meat of his little brig. There was nothing for it but to run, and Captain Jones made haste to get away, followed by the "Solebay." But the Briton gained on the American, and after a four-hours' run the frigate was less than a hundred yards away. It might at any minute sink the daring little "Providence" by a broadside.
But Paul Jones was not the man to be caught. Suddenly the helm of the brig was put hard up, as sailors say, and the little craft turned and dashed across the frigate's bow. As it did so the flag of the republic was spread to the breeze, and a broadside from the brig's guns swept the frigate's deck. Then, with all sail set, away dashed the "Providence" before the breeze. As soon as the British got back their senses they fired all their guns at the brig. But not a ball hit her, and with the best of the wind she soon left the "Solebay" far behind.
And now I must tell the story of Paul Jones' greatest fight. In its way it was the greatest sea-fight ever known. It was fought with a fleet in which Jones sailed from a French port, for Congress had found what a hero they had in their Scotch sailor, and now they made him commodore of a fleet.
The flagship of this fleet was a rotten old log of a ship, which had sailed in the East India merchant service till its timbers were in a state of dry rot. It was a shapeless tub of a vessel, better fitted to lie in port and keep rabbits in than to send out as a battle-ship. Paul Jones named it the "Bon Homme Richard," which, in English means "Poor Richard." This was a name used by Benjamin Franklin for his almanac.
It was not until the summer of 1779 that Jones was able to set sail. His ship had thirty-six guns, such as they were, and he had with him three other ships under French officers—the "Alliance," the "Pallas," and the "Vengeance." Among his crew were a hundred American sailors, who had just been set free from English prisons. And his master's mate, Richard Dale, a man of his own sort, had just escaped from prison in England.
Away they went, east and west, north and south, around the British isles, seeking for the men-of-war which should have swarmed in those seas, but finding only merchant vessels, a number of which were captured and their crews kept as prisoners. But the gallant commodore soon got tired of this. He had come out to fight, and he wanted to find something worth fighting. At length, on September 23d, he came in view of a large fleet of merchant ships, forty-two in all, under the charge of two frigates, the "Serapis," of forty-two guns, and the "Countess of Scarborough," of twenty-two smaller guns.
Commodore Jones left the smaller vessel for his consorts to deal with, and dashed away for the "Serapis" as fast as the tub-like "Bon Homme Richard" could go. The British ship was much stronger than his in number and weight of guns, but he cared very little for that. The "Serapis" had ten 18-pound cannon in each battery, and the "Bon Homme Richard" only three. And these were such sorry excuses for cannon that two of them burst at the first fire, killing and wounding the most of their crews. After that Jones did all his fighting with 12 and 8-pound guns; that is, with guns which fired balls of these weights.
It was night when the battle began. Soon the 18-pounders of the "Serapis" were playing havoc with the sides of the "Bon Homme Richard." Many of the balls went clear through her and plunged into the sea beyond. Some struck her below the water level, and soon the rotten old craft was "leaking like a basket."
It began to look desperate for Jones and his ship. He could not half reply to the heavy fire of the English guns, and great chasms were made in the ship's side, where the 18-pound balls tore out the timbers between the port holes.
Captain Pearson of the "Serapis" looked at his staggering and leaking enemy, and thought it about time for the battle to end.