Everything about Battle Of Flamborough Head totally explained
The
Battle of Flamborough Head, between a small
squadron led by
John Paul Jones and two British
convoy escorts, is one of the best known, but least understood, naval actions in history. What follows is an attempt to present a balanced view of the events of
23 September 1779, in the
North Sea off the coast of
Yorkshire in north-eastern
England. Note that all times in this account are very approximate; apart from anything else, there were no international time zones in the 18th century, so American/French and British witnesses would have had their watches set to different times.
The American squadron
During September 1779, the four remaining vessels from a seven-strong squadron which departed from the anchorage at
Groix off
L’Orient in France on
14 August 1779, nominally under the command of American
Continental Navy captain John Paul Jones, voyaged from a brief stop off
Ireland, round the north of Scotland, and down the east coast of Britain, creating havoc wherever possible. Although sailing under the American flag, all vessels were loaned or donated by
France, with French captains, except the
Alliance, which had been built in
Amesbury, Massachusetts specifically for the
Continental Navy (but still had a French captain, who was disinclined to recognise Jones’s authority). The crews included Americans, French volunteers, British sailors previously captured by the Americans and offered the chance to get out of captivity, and many others seeking glory or loot.
On the evening of
22 September, Jones in the
Bonhomme Richard (an armed
East India trading vessel he'd reluctantly adapted for military use), accompanied by the little
brigantine Vengeance, had been off
Spurn Head, hoping to catch a few prizes emerging from the
Humber estuary, but he decided to head northward during the hours of darkness, and rendezvous with his
frigates Alliance and
Pallas, which had parted company from him further up the coast. Shortly after midnight, two vessels were seen, so signal lanterns were set- to which the strangers didn't give the response that would identify them as members of his squadron. Jones’s crew was called to quarters, but when daylight approached, about 5.30 am, and a chequered flag was hoisted on the
mizzen mast, the mystery vessels finally identified themselves as the
Alliance and
Pallas. Captain Cottineau of the
Pallas (in full, Denis Nicolas Cottineau de Kerloguen) later reported that Captain Pierre Landais of the
Alliance had advised a rapid retreat if the approaching warship proved to be British- not a reassuring suggestion, given that his frigate, which had been acclaimed as the best warship yet made in America, was by a fair margin the faster and more manoeuvrable of the two.
Early in the afternoon, the reunited squadron sighted a
brig in
Bridlington Bay, so at about 3.30 pm a small
schooner- captured just the previous day- was sent with a 15-man
boarding party. There is a discrepancy at this point between Jones’s official report and
Bonhomme Richard’s log, but the reason for sending the schooner may have been, not because the brig was in very shallow water, but because the main squadron was on its way to investigate a sighting of a ship further north, near Flamborough Head. Shortly after the schooner was dispatched,
Alliance, which had been somewhat ahead of the others, hoisted a signal and set off at speed. At least two large vessels had been sighted in the distance, so the schooner was immediately recalled by firing a signal gun, and the entire squadron headed towards the potentially rich prizes. but when the Yorkshire coast was sighted early on
23 September just over 40 remained, mostly carrying timber (often in the form of planks and masts for ships) or iron, bound for ports all round the southern half of the
British Isles, from
Hull round to
Bristol, and
Waterford in Ireland. Although the Baltic convoy received a warning from Scarborough that an enemy squadron was in the vicinity, some ships ignored the signals (by both flags and guns) from the 44-gun escort ship
H.M.S. Serapis to stay close for protection. Early in the afternoon, as they approached Flamborough Head, the lookouts of the hastiest ships saw the danger in Bridlington Bay for themselves. Hastily tacking, they attempted to run for the safety of
Scarborough.
Serapis put on all sail to get between the fleeing merchant vessels and the probable Americans, while the smaller
Countess of Scarborough (20 guns, an armed vessel built by private subscription and hired to the
Admiralty for escort duty) shepherded the convoy. About 4 pm, with the whole convoy to his north, and the squadron of strangers clearly in sight to the south, Captain Richard Pearson of the
Serapis signalled the
Countess to join him. As the squadron caught up, the
Royal Navy vessels made sure to position themselves so that the presumed enemy couldn't easily sail round them to reach the slower merchant ships.
The first shots
As the situation became clear,
Alliance gradually slowed down, allowing the rest of Jones’s squadron to catch up (except for the little schooner carrying the boarding party, which simply couldn't sail fast enough). About 6 pm,
Commodore Jones ordered
Pallas to ride directly in his wake, to confuse the opposition about the squadron’s strength, and half an hour later he hoisted signals ordering all vessels to form a single-file
line of battle, to make best use of their
broadsides as they passed the two British ships. Captain Landais, who unlike Jones had a great deal of formal training in naval leadership and tactics (and was aware of the latest French battle plans, used with considerable success against the Royal Navy at this time) decided to try a different plan. He used
Alliance’s superior handling to sail off to one side, against the wind. In order to prevent him from sailing right past and chasing the convoy, Captain Thomas Piercy of the
Countess of Scarborough had to do the same, leaving
Serapis alone against the remaining three American ships. Finally, a little after 7 pm, the
Bonhomme Richard was within pistol-shot of the battle-ready
Serapis. In the gathering dark, Pearson then hailed the potentially hostile ship to ask some pertinent questions- its name, its nationality etc. The answer was a few evasive remarks, followed by a shot (as he recalled it, but possibly a broadside) which
Serapis answered with a broadside. (his maximum broadside being about 60 lb from 10 guns).
Bonhomme Richard’s broadside wasn't what it should have been. The ship was about the same length as
Alliance, and originally had almost the same armament, with a broadside of just over 200 lb from 18 guns, but because it was a converted merchant ship, designed for roominess and stability, Jones had been able to add six 18-pound guns (somewhat elderly, as the French hadn't been able to provide new ones) mounted in such a way that they could be rotated to fire through ports low down on either side, adding a hefty 108 pounds of shot to a full broadside. In the event, though, these big guns only fired eight shots between them, because two of them quickly burst open under the strain, killing most of the people round them, so the remainder were abandoned.
Serapis, one of the Royal Navy’s newest ships, also had 18-pound guns (10 on each side, contributing 180 lb to a total 22-gun broadside of around 280 lb) which worked perfectly well. Additionally, being designed as a warship,
Serapis was almost literally able to run rings around the ponderous
Bonhomme Richard- although the winds were very light on this evening, restricting the scope for fancy sailing. By coincidence, due to desertions and the need to crew captured vessels,
Richard’s crew had been reduced from around 400 to about the same as
Serapis- 320.
The first half hour
While Commodore Jones and Captain Landais were fighting their unexpectedly separate battles, Captains Cottineau of the
Pallas and Ricot of
Vengeance were left wondering what to do. In a well-organised formation, they might have been able to make a contribution, but to intervene in ship-to-ship duels would be very dangerous. In theory, they could have taken advantage of the confusion to sail off after the stragglers of the convoy, but night had now fallen, and until the moon rose they wouldn't be able to see their prey; also it quickly became clear that
Bonhomme Richard would need help. Therefore, they waited until they could be useful. About this time, the little schooner caught up with them, but there was no way to transfer the potentially very useful boarding team to
Bonhomme Richard or
Alliance.
Meanwhile, after two or three broadsides exchanged with
Alliance, less than 20 minutes after the first shot, Captain Piercy was astonished to see his opponent (with just one of the little 6 lb shots from the
Countess stuck in its tough timberwork) move away to rejoin
Pallas, which was still waiting for an opportunity to be useful; Landais later claimed that his opponent had sailed away under cover of smoke
The problem with this version of the story is that the 18-pounders were on the lower deck, so it would be a very lucky drop to reach them from high above. Captain Pearson speculated that either a grenade had been thrown through a hole in the hull, from
Richard’s gun deck, or that the charge had been ignited by accident.
Still in action, still moving with the wind away from the main fight, were
Pallas and the
Countess of Scarborough.
Alliance was catching up fast, though, and as the near-undamaged, speedy, well-armed frigate approached, Captain Piercy understood that with seven of his own guns dismounted, four of his crew dead, twenty wounded, his rigging and sails too badly damaged to make a speedy getaway, he could neither win nor escape. With Landais hovering just beyond the range of his guns, he therefore
struck his colours.
(but another version of the story also circulated, with the chicken-coop but without the shootings, which fits better with Jones’s memory).
In all the noise, Pearson couldn't actually hear the reply to his question, so he decided to send a boarding team. At this point, once again, Jones’s preparation paid off. The boarders were met by a previously hidden defensive force, which swiftly drove them back to
Serapis. Pearson’s First Lieutenant was among those reluctant to believe that his captain had surrendered, and Dale made sure that he stayed with Pearson rather than leaving him to his own devices. The combatants, although they probably cared little, had been observed by thousands of onlookers, for on that clear night, with a near-full moon, the action could be seen from a long stretch of the high Yorkshire coastline, Scarborough in the north to Flamborough Head itself in the south.
There is no record of final casualty figures aboard the two main combatants. Captain Pearson, in a postscript to his battle report, stated that there were "many more than" 49 dead and 68 wounded aboard
Serapis, but his figure of 300 casualties aboard
Bonhomme Richard seems very high, unless it includes a great many of the captives stuck below decks during the battle. English press reports (not an ideal source of information) claimed 70 deaths on the
Richard, which, assuming a similar ratio to the
Serapis figures would give around 100 wounded.
Aftermath
Overnight, pumping continued in the
Bonhomme Richard, and repairs began (also, the powder was removed from the magazine, which was threatened by the continued smouldering of the ship’s woodwork). With the water still getting deeper, the guns from the lower decks were reluctantly heaved overboard- not a very difficult task, as much of the hull was missing. The dead went the same way, though with rather more dignity. At 2 pm the next day, with the carpenter insisting that the ship couldn't be saved, Commodore Jones took the ex-Captain and Lieutenant of
Serapis to safety, but returned early in the evening to check on progress. Finding that the water was still rising, he ordered the wounded, who ideally shouldn't have been moved, to be transferred to other vessels (Richard Pearson wasn't aware of this nocturnal operation, and wrote in his official report that Jones had left the wounded aboard). At 10 pm, those who had been brought in from other ships to man the pumps were ordered to leave, and during the rest of the night the most important items aboard were removed; these didn't include personal possessions, not even most of Jones’s. The flotilla was slowly moving east-south-east away from the coast all this time, and wasn't seen from land again after night fell (as Flamborough Head is about 120 metres [400feet] high, ships’ sails would be visible on a clear day up to 50 kilometres [30statute miles] away). At 4 am the next day,
25 September, pumping was abandoned, with the water almost up to the lower deck. The wind was getting stronger, so all personnel abandoned ship at 10 am, and just before 11, as a boat approached from the Commodore’s new command ship,
Serapis, to try and salvage a few more items,
Bonhomme Richard started to disappear beneath the waves.
Back in England, something rather unexpected was happening. On the one hand, the overall effects of Jones’s cruise, and the activities of other raiders such as the privateer duo of
Black Prince and
Black Princess were reported with a sort of resentful admiration. On the other hand, although Pearson and Piercy had lost the battle, they were the only Royal Navy captains who had actually managed to engage with Jones’s squadron at all, and they'd sunk his flagship- their official reports appeared in British newspapers in mid-October, forcing the Americans to leak Jones’s (some of which he definitely hadn't intended for publication). Most importantly, they'd fully achieved their mission purpose, which was to protect the convoy. When they returned home, about the beginning of November, they were honoured by the towns of Kingston upon Hull and Scarborough, and were rewarded by both the
Russia Company, principal owner of vessels in the convoy, and the
Royal Exchange Assurance Company. Pearson even gained a knighthood, and in 1782 the Royal Navy took the unusual step of naming a new ship
Serapis- an acknowledgement rarely given to a vessel which lost a battle.
Combatants
American/French squadron
British convoy escorts
frigate/ship hybrid Serapis (44 guns)
armed vessel Countess of Scarborough (20)Further Information
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