The Bonhomme Richard

From Geoff Hunt’s spectacular series of prints depicting dramatic naval actions associated with the War of Independence and the War of 1812. John Paul Jones’s flagship in the battle with H.M.S. Serapis. Two of the most famous names in American naval history must surely be those of the Bonhomme Richard and her formidable captain John Paul Jones. Yet the ship herself was French-built, a converted merchantman, and never crossed the Atlantic under Jones’s command; she was sailed, and fought her memorable battle, in European waters.

Jones commanded a small squadron besides the Bonhomme Richard, consisting mostly of French ships with French captains, though these carried commissions in the Continental Navy and the ships flew the Continental flag.

The painting depicts the vessel at dawn, under easy sail. Aft, on the lower gundeck, can be seen the three gunports for the eighteen-pounder cannon which Jones had insisted upon. Beyond the Bonhomme Richard is the American Alliance, longest-lived of the Continental frigates, though here commanded by a Frenchman. To the left is the cutter Le Cerf.

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