The first Bonhomme Richard--a merchantman built in 1766 under the name Duc de Duras for La Compagnie des Indes, France's version of England's East India Company--was purchased by Louis XVI from a Monsieur Berard in early 1779 and placed at the disposal of Capt. John Paul Jones by France's Minister of Marine, Monsieur Gabriel de Sartine, for operations against the British. Sartine gave Jones authority to use his own judgement in determining when and where he would sail and what he would then attempt to do.
After spending the next few months selecting officers, recruiting, arming the vessel as a frigate, and preparing her for sea, Jones--who now bore the honorary title of commodore since other warships had been placed under his overall command--got underway from L'Orient, France, in Bonhomme Richard on 19 June 1779 to escort a convoy of transports and merchantmen to various ports along the coast of the Bay of Biscay. The fine new American frigate Alliance and three French warships--the frigate Pallas, the brig Vengeance, and a cutter taken from the British called Le Cerf--were also in his squadron to help him protect these charges.
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