09/24/2026
"I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight!" âď¸âď¸
On the afternoon of September 23, 1779, John Paul Jones, American naval commander of the USS Bonhomme Richardâa refurbished French merchant ship, engaged the HMS Serapis, a fast British warship with superior firepower.
As the sun sank, the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis closed within pistol range. The British captain, Richard Pearson, shouted across the water, demanding to know the ship's identity. Jones, always the showman, waited until the last second, pulled down the British decoy colors he was flying, and hauled up the American flag.
Both ships erupted in broadsides. But disaster struck Jones immediately. Two of his old 18-pound cannons blew apart inside his own ship during the first volley, killing the crews and blowing a hole in the Richard.
Outgunned, outmaneuvered, and taking on water, Jones knew he couldn't win a shootout. So he did the unthinkable: ramming his sinking ship directly into the British vessel, turning a naval battle into a hand-to-hand brawl.
The chaos ensued. In the moonlight, crews fought amidst thick smoke, burning tar, and rising water.
To make matters worse, Jonesâs "ally" ship, the Allianceâcommanded by a rogue French officer who despised Jonesâsailed past and fired three times directly into Jones's sinking ship.
Below deck, the water had risen to chin level. Assuming Jones was dead, a panicked American gunner's mate ran up to the deck screaming for surrender.
Hearing the cries for quarter, the British captain shouted across the flaming gap, asking if Jones was striking his colors.
Covered in smoke and standing on a ship sinking beneath his feet, Jones roared back his legendary reply: "I have not yet begun to fight!"
A few minutes later, an American sailor crawled across the rigging and dropped a single gr***de down an open hatch on the Serapis. With his own ship in ruins, it was the British captain who finally tore down his flag and surrendered.
Jones took command of the Serapis and watched his beloved Bonhomme Richard slip beneath the waves a day later.