The American Revolutionary War came to British shores for the first and only time 240 years ago today when John Paul Jones, a commander in America’s Continental Navy, attacked the Cumbrian port of Whitehaven.
Born and raised on the southwest coast of Scotland, John Paul (he added ‘Jones’ later) began his maritime career at the age of 13, sailing out of Whitehaven. For several years he served on British merchant and slave ships, rising through the ranks until he was made captain in 1768. His reputation suffered two years later when he had a crew member flogged. The man – an adventurer from an influential Scottish family – later died and Jones was briefly imprisoned.
On his release he left Scotland and found new employment captaining a merchant vessel sailing between London and the West Indies. This too ended badly when, after 18 months, he killed a mutinous crew member with a sword in a dispute over wages. Despite claiming self-defence, he feared a forthcoming trial and instead fled to America, adding the ‘Jones’ to his name.
It was there that, in 1775, he offered his services to the newly-founded Continental Navy in their fight against Britain as part of the American Revolutionary War. He soon gained a reputation as a daring wartime naval captain and was given command of the newly-built USS Ranger in 1777, setting sail for France with orders to “assist the American cause” however possible.
Having attacked several British ships in the Irish Sea, he persuaded his mostly reluctant crew to take part in a raid on his old home port of Whitehaven, in particular its two small forts and any ships in its harbour. Arriving on April 23rd, Jones himself led the night-time attack, commanding two boats, each with around 15 men on board. With the Ranger standing about two-miles offshore, the two boats were rowed against a strong tide for almost three hours to reach the harbour.
More delays followed because the boat lanterns were low on fuel, needed to start the fires. Men were sent to raid quayside pubs for more, but, perhaps inevitably for sailors, instead raided the alcohol. In the meantime, Jones, who knew the harbour well, led assaults on both forts, surprising their guards without bloodshed and ‘spiking’ the port’s defensive cannons by hammering soft nails into the touch-holes used to ignite the powder.
Returning to the harbour, he was dismayed to find none of the ships alight and many of his raiders the worse for drink and their candles having burnt out. He set about firing one of the biggest ships, which carried a cargo of coal, and another next to it. He knew if the fires took hold they would quickly spread to other ships and the warehouses on the quayside, packed with combustibles.
Unfortunately for Jones, one of his crewmen suffered a fit of conscience and slipped away to raise the alarm, banging on doors to warn the townsfolk. They rushed in numbers to the harbour, bringing the town’s fire engines with them. Although the fire on the coal ship had taken hold in its keel, they stopped it spreading to the rigging, which would have spread the flames rapidly. The fire in the neighbouring ship had not taken hold and was soon extinguished.
Faced with a growing angry mob and a new dawn, Jones and his men were forced to retreat, rowing their boats back to the Ranger amid small arms fire from the quay. They had good cause to thank Jones for spiking the town’s big guns. Although audacious, the attack achieved very little, except to alert the British to the possibility of further attacks, causing them to reinforce defences along the entire coast. In truth, it was a bungled failure, but the British hadn’t heard the last of Jones.
He then sailed up the coast to Scotland, landing on St Mary’s Isle, near Kirkudbirght, to capture the Earl of Selkirk for ransom. Again his hopes were dashed when he found the Earl was not at home, so his crew instead stole the family silver. One undisputed success for Jones was his 1779 fight with the larger 50-gun British warship HMS Serapis off the Yorkshire coast at Flamborough Head.
Early in the engagement Jones’ frigate was struck by cannon fire and began taking on water while simultaneously catching fire. When the British captain ordered him to surrender, Jones famously replied: “Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!” He did indeed fight on and a few hours later the captain and crew of Serapis were forced to admit defeat and surrender their ship. Jones and his crew occupied the captured ship, leaving their own irreparably damaged vessel to sink.
Jones went on to establish himself as one of the greatest naval commanders in American history, but died at the relatively young age of 45 after falling ill in Paris. He was initially buried there, but several years later his preserved remains were recovered and moved to the US Naval Academy Chapel in Maryland, where they were reburied with full military honours. A memorial statue also stands in Washington DC and several US Navy ships have been named in his honour.