Five Famous Shipwrecks Waiting to Be Discovered-- Part 2: Griffon, Endurance and Bon Homme Richard

From the April 30 History Mysterious History.

3.  THE GRIFFIN

The first sailing ship on the Great Lakes.  The Griffin (or Le was a three-masted vessel built by French explorer LaSalle during his exploration of the lakes.  It disappeared in 1679.  It is considered the "Holy Grail of the Great Lakes" shipwrecks.

4.  SHACKLETON'S ENDURANCE

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set sail for his expedition to Antarctica and the South Pole.  But the Endurance got caught in the ice and had its hull cracked.  Shackleton and the crew escaped by making an 800 mile voyage in a lifeboat, but the whereabouts of his Endurance are not known.

5.  BON HOMME RICHARD

A French donation to the American cause under command of John Paul Jones.  In 1779, it captured 16 British vessels off the coast of England.  On September 23 it fought the British frigate HMS Serapis.  Jones had not yet begun to fight and won, but the Bon Homme Richard sank and no one has been able to find it.

--Cootship

Top Ten Navy Sailors of All Time-- Part 1

From April 1, 2018, Navy Times by John Fannin, American Grit.

Photographs and information are with each man.

1.  John Paul Jones  "The Father of the U.S. Navy"  American Revolution  Tie

1.  John Barry   Also known as "The Father of the U.S. Navy."   Tie

3.  Chester W. Nimitz  World War II

4.  Oliver Hazard Perry   War of 1812   Battle of Lake Erie

5.  Michael M. Murphy   Medal of Honor recipient and Navy SEAL   Killed in Afghanistan

Charles Dwight Sigsbee: the Maine's Commander

Well, I was wondering about Sigsbee's desk and bathtub as well as other objects.

From Wikipedia.

(1845-1923)  Noted pioneering oceanographer.

He was captain of the USS Maine when it exploded.

Appointed acting midshipman 16 July 1862 from the USNA.  During the Civil War, he served aboard the USS Monongahela, USS Wyoming and USS Shenandoah (not the Confederate cruiser of the same name). He was at the Battle of Mobile Bay and both battles of Fort Fisher.

He commanded the USS Kearsarge (which sank the famed CSS Alabama) and was on the European Station 1885-1886.

Sigsbee and his officers were exonerated by the court of inquiry after the Maine sank and later commanded the USS St. Paul in 1898 at the second battle of San Juan and the  Texas in 1900.

In 1905, he commanded the USS Brooklyn when it brought home the remains of naval hero and Father of the U.S. Navy John Paul Jones from France for internment at the USNA.

Retired from the Navy in 1909 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

--DaCoot

Still Looking for the Bonhomme Richard

From the July 29th Naval History Blog.

I'm glad they are looking for the wreck of this famous US ship, although I doubt there would be much left after all these years.

For the last two weeks, a US Naval group has been combing over several hundred nautical miles of frigid North Sea waters for the legendary vessel, John Paul Jones' ship in the famous "I have not yet begun to fight" battle with the HMS Serapis.

The weather and seas have been horrible.

The unit is using remotely operated vehicles and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles which are towed behind the search ship. This is also a training opportunity for naval divers.

Here's Hoping for Some Success. --Cooter

Back to the Revolution: The Hunt for the Bonhomme Richard...Part 2: US Navy Underwater Archaeological Branch

Continued from May 17th.

In the last four years, three expeditions have been mounted to find the wreck of John Paul Jones' ship. TV shows "Deep Sea Detectives" on the History Channel" and "Treasure Quest" on the Disney Channel have paid for them.

Locating sunken ships has always been something people have been involved in. In 1995, the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley was found. The wreck of the CSS Alabama has been found and cannons as well as a toilet bowl raised from it.

One downside to all this interest in shipwrecks is the threat to preservation. People dive on the accessible ones and steal items. Plus, it can be dangerous.

Once an artifact has been preserved, Bob Neyland and the Underwater Archaeology Branch try to find a home for it either in a museum or research facility. Of 9,000 objects owned by the Navy, 7,000 are on loan to museums and universities.

The Underwater Branch also monitors auction sites like eBay.

In September Neyland went on a Navy Survey ship to look for a blockade-runner. They spent ten days using underwater robots and sonar. A british group recently claimed they'd found it, but Neyland has studied dates and the location and doesn't believe they have found it.

I Would Even Be Willing to Come Out of Retirement to Do Something Like This. --DaCoot

Back to the Revolution: The Hunt for the Bonhomme Richard-- Part 1: US Navy Underwater Archaeology Branch

Another Revolutionary War story with a famous quote, even though I had never heard the "Come and Get It" quote before I came across the McIntosh story.

From the Oct. 23, 2010, Seattle Times "Navy in hunt for John Paul Jones' famous sunken ship, the Bonhomme Richard" by Annys Shin.

The search for the famous ship, sunk September 25, 1779, off the coast of Yorkshire, England, has been going on for decades. Even in English waters, the wreck is legally the property of the United States Navy.

Bob Neyland, chief archaeologist of the Navy's Underwater Archaeology Branch based at the Washington Navy Yard, heads up a small unit responsible for identifying and preserving sunken and historically significant vessels from the colonial era to World War II fighter planes.

The branch was created in 1996 and once had eight members, but budgetary problems have reduced it to four members now. (This is a job I'd be willing to come out of retirement for.) Their annual federal budget is $37,000, but that is augmented by other Naval officers, non-profit groups as well as state and federal agency grants.

More to Come. --DaCoot

The Search for the Bonhomme Richard-- Part 2

From Wikipedia

The Bonhomme Richard was built for France in 1765 and named the Duc de Duras and intended for the East Indies trade. The French king placed the ship at John Paul Jones' disposal and he renamed in Bonhomme Richard in honor of Benjamin Franklin who had written Poor Richard's Almanac which was published in France as Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard.

The ship weighed 998 tons, was 152 feet long and had a 40 foot beam and a crew of 380. Its armament consisted of 28X12-pounder smoothbores, 6X18-pounder smoothbores and 8X9-pounder smoothbores.

Before the battle, it had been sailing off the British coast attacking merchant ships when it came across a big convoy protected by the HMS Serapis and another British ship.

The battle last four hours and at first appeared to be a victory for the British. About half of the crews of both ships were killed or wounded and eventually the fighting was between the two ships as they were tied together. When the French warship Alliance joined in and opened fire on both vessels, the Serapis was forced to surrender when it could not bring its guns to bear on it.

The Bonhomme Richard sank September 25, 1779, after Jones had transferred his command to the Serapis which later became a French privateer and sank.

I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight. --Cooter

The Search for the Bonhomme Richard-- Part 1

The September New Haven (Ct) Register reports that the Ocean Technology Foundation is getting ready to mount their fifth expedition to locate the wreck of John Paul Jones' ship, the Bonhomme Richard which sank after its battle with the British frigate HMS Serapis in what is called the Battle of Flamborough Head off the coast of Yorkshire, England, on September 23, 1779.

It was in this battle that Jones uttered the famous words, "I have not yet begun to fight."

The wreck of the Serapis was discovered in November 1999.

Many efforts have been made to find it, but the Bonhomme Richard has so far been elusive. It is believed to be in several pieces and there are many other shipwrecks in the area, further compounding the problem of locating it.

Here's Hoping They Find It. --DaCoot