Duel [44] Bonhomme Richard vs Serapis: Flamborough Head 1779 by Mark Lardas

Author:Mark Lardas [Lardas, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: new
ISBN: 9781780964485
Google: u7eHCwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 15797600
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2012-07-20T04:00:00+00:00

An officer’s commission marked him as a gentleman. Note the inked alterations in John Paul Jones’s commission to designate him a naval, rather than an army officer. (MOA-UM)

Sword presented to John Paul Jones following the battle of Flamborough Head. Richard Pearson also received a presentation sword for the battle. (AC)

THE OFFICERS

The ships of both the Continental and Royal Navies, including Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, were led by commissioned officers. These officers were responsible for directing a ship’s operation and leading it in battle. These men held office through a commission issued to them by the government. In the Royal Navy, the commission was issued by the Board of the Admiralty, the governmental department that ran the Royal Navy. In the Continental Navy, it was issued by the Continental Congress. Both navies used a similar structure for their officer corps, and drew their officers from similar strata of society. At least in part, this was due to the Continental Congress drawing on the Royal Navy as an example when it created its navy.

The lowest-ranking officers aboard a warship, the midshipmen, were officer trainees. Both navies wanted capable officers, and created a flexible path to the quarterdeck. Royal Navy officers began as volunteers, typically at ages as young as 12 or 13. These boys were carried on the books as captain’s servants, but spent their time learning the basics of seamanship, navigation, and leadership. Most of these candidates gained their appointments through influence – they or their parents knew someone commanding a King’s ship, who gave them the position.

Midshipmen during this period were also drawn from promising members of a ship’s crew as well as the gentry more usually associated with the Royal Navy officer corps. Competence was more valued than birth, as capable watch officers were critical to a ship’s safety. A captain could sleep better with low-born but competent men running the watch, rather than incompetent relatives. In short, survival trumped nepotism, and as a result, the Royal Navy offered British society a degree of social mobility. In the Continental Navy, midshipmen were appointed by Congress, although captains could fill vacancies.

A midshipman who demonstrated competence could ascend the next step in the ladder of command – the rank of lieutenant, the lowest commissioned rank. In the Royal Navy, a midshipman could not be commissioned until he had accumulated six years’ service and had passed an examination before a board of captains. The Continental Navy lacked both requirements, with Congress issuing commissions based on personal recommendations from those believed knowledgeable – a process that occasionally misfired.

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