"USS Bonhomme Richard found!" Topic

The wreck of John Paul Jones's frigate has been discovered off the coast of the U.K.! This is without a doubt the biggest AWI find of the century. link

Wow!

That's a great find!

I might have missed it, but I didn't see where they offered any evidence to indicate it is indeed the Richard.

"Evidence, sir? I have not yet begun to cite!"

+1 42!

Cool.

x2 Cool.

If it is on Fox it has to be true :-s

Quotes a BBC report :-s

Was hoping for some solid evidence but hopefully some will be coming.

Yorkshire Post article: link

The actual site location is being kept secret for obvious preservation reasons. But the discoverers seem pretty confident on this one.

Hmmmm, 'tis passing strange.

Because as a member of the Deering Estate and ASSF, we all know that HMS Fowey, of Fowey Rocks fame, is protected by both the US Park Service, the USCG and it is well known that any and all air traffic flying into/out of Homestead AFB always keeps a weather eye for activity around the remains.

In return, the RN and related British government agencies take great pride in returning the favor in regards to the Bonhomme Richard.

So, since it's location is known, if secret and protected, then…???

link

Kind of enlightening for me is the USS. I've always seen it listed simply by name and I never realized she was part of the Continental Navy proper. Kind of assumed it was just a very large privateer. Good to know.

Very cool.

As an inhabitant of Whitehaven I am not overwhelmed to see traitor and failed arsonist Jones' ship discovered. OTOH I suppose it was a long time ago and has lots of historical significance to somebody. :)

I take it back- it's a very exciting discovery.

I look forward not only to confirmation, but to what they will find onboard.

According to accounts I read yesterday, Jones and his crew were forced to abandon personal effects when evacuating the ship. Hopefully some of these remain intact and recoverable.

The Yorkshire Post article was amusing. Any objective poll would actually show that very few Americans today can identify John Paul Jones and that fewer still would know that the battle was fought off Flamborough Head.

However, more to the point, I find it very hard to believe that the spot cited could be correct. While low tide in those northern latitudes might be half a mile from the high tide line, it would still be too shallow, even at high tide, to float ships of the size of JPJ or Serapis. The accounts of the battle also indicate that the battle was, if not six miles off the shoreline, considerably further away than the low tide line.

Don't fall into the mistake of assuming that coastal seabed conditions now are identical to coastal seabed conditions then. That's a big assumption. Also, ships rarely tend to settle exactly where they sink, especially over a distance of two centuries. Tides, currents, storms, changing coastlines, etc., etc., can certainly affect where a shipwreck initially contacts the sea floor, and even where it eventually winds up.

I'm not saying that anything I've read so far confirms the discovery of the Bonhomme Richard, but neither do your objections sufficiently rule it out.

I do hope that it is confirmed to be, but some of what is said is suspicious.