John Paul Jones and the Invasion of England

In the middle of the stormy North Sea off the northeastern coast of England in September 1779 two enemy ships were locked together in an epic struggle worthy of the Battle of the Titans in Greek mythology. The 44-gun British frigate HMS Serapisand the 40-gun American Bonhomme Richard had become stuck when the Serapis’s jib-boom caught the Bonhomme Richard’s rigging in the initial assault. Rather than try to break free and roll the dice with the heavier armed Royal Navy frigate on the open waters, the American captain, John Paul Jones, ordered his motley crew of American, French, Irish, Portuguese, and Scottish sailors to lash the ships together with grappling ropes.