Two-decked British Royal Navy fifth-rate (1779–1781)
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Serapis.
Defence of Captn Pearson in his Majesty’s Ship Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough Arm’d Ship Captn Piercy, against Paul Jones's Squadron, 23 September 1779, by Richard Paton.
History
Great Britain
Name
HMS Serapis
Ordered
11 February 1778
Builder
Randall & Brent, Rotherhithe
Laid down
3 March 1778
Launched
4 March 1779
Fate
Taken by American Bonhomme Richard, assisted by other vessels
Serapis was commissioned in March 1779 under Captain Richard Pearson. On 23 September she engaged the American warship USSBonhomme Richard under the command of Captain John Paul Jones in the North Sea at Flamborough Head, England. At the time of this battle, the ship carried 50 guns, having an extra six 6-pounders.[3] The two vessels exchanged heavy fire and Bonhomme Richard lost most of her firepower, but by attaching the two ships together, Jones was able to overcome much of Pearson's advantage of greater firepower (although the Bonhomme Richard was a larger ship with a considerably greater crew).[4] The famous quote, "I have not yet begun to fight!"[4] was Jones's response to Pearson's premature call for Bonhomme Richard to surrender. The battle raged on for three hours as the crew of Bonhomme Richard tenaciously fought Serapis, raking her deck with gunfire. Eventually, USSAlliance, a frigate in Jones's squadron, began firing at both the attached ships indiscriminately. Bonhomme Richard began to sink, but Captain Pearson, unable to aim his guns at the frigate because he was tied to Jones's ship, surrendered, handing Serapis over to the Americans.[4]
Aftermath
Jones sailed to the neutral Dutch Republic, but diplomatic complications arose because the Dutch authorities did not recognize the United States. Jones renamed his capture Serapis. An improvised Serapis flag was secretly entered into the Dutch records to avoid the charges of piracy. Serapis and her consort, HM hired armed shipCountess of Scarborough, were later declared as French captures.
Although the two British vessels had lost the battle, they had succeeded perfectly in protecting the very valuable convoy, and both captains were well rewarded.
Loss of Serapis
Between October and December 1779 Serapis was in the Texel. By September 1780 she was probably at Lorient.[1]
The French Royal Navy commissioned Sérapis, and loaned her to a civilian master named Roche who planned to use the ship against the British in the Indian Ocean.[5]
On 31 July 1781, Sérapis was at Madagascar, trading spirits and arak for rice,[6] when the load master, lieutenant de frégate L'Héritier,[7] had candles taken out of their fire-proof lanterns. The candles ignited alcohol vapour in the hull.[6] The crew fought the fire for two and a half hours, but the flames eventually burned through the walls of the spirit locker and reached a powder magazine. The resulting explosion ripped the stern off the ship, sinking her. While eight men lost their lives, 215 people survived. The privateer Daliram returned them to Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar.[1]
Discovery of the wreck
In November 1999, American nautical archeologists Richard Swete and Michael Tuttle located the remains of Serapis at Île Sainte-Marie.
Demerliac, Alain (1996). La Marine de Louis XVI: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1774 à 1792 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN9782906381230. OCLC468324725.
Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol.1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC165892922. (1671-1870)
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-86176-295-5. OCLC132314466.
Robert Surcouf was a French privateer and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean between 1789 and 1801, and again from 1807 to 1808, capturing over 40 prizes. He later amassed a large fortune as a ship-owner, from privateering, commercial activities, the illegal slave trade, and as a landowner.
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Naïade was a 20-gun Coquette-class corvette. She took part in the Indian theatre of the Anglo-French War with the squadron under Suffren. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1783 but never commissioned her; it sold her in 1784.
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