TITLE Captain
WAR & AFFILIATION Revolutionary War / Patriot
DATE OF BIRTH - DEATH July 6, 1747 - July 18, 1792
As an officer of the Continental Navy of the American Revolution, John Paul Jones helped establish the traditions of courage and professionalism of the United States Navy. John Paul was born in a gardener's cottage in Kirkbean, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, went to sea as a youth, and was a merchant shipmaster by the age of twenty-one. Having taken up residence in Virginia, he volunteered early in the War of Independence to serve in his adopted country's infant navy and raised with his own hands the Continental ensign on board the flagship of the Navy's first fleet. He took the war to the enemy's homeland with daring raids along the British coast and the famous victory of the
Bonhomme Richard over HMS
Serapis. As such he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the United States Navy".
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