BonHomme Richard 1:500

Product detailed description

History on Wikipedia HERE

History of the ship:

The ship, originally named Duc de Duras, was originally a merchant ship built in 1765 for the French East India Company. It carried goods between India and France. But on February 4, 1779, she was made available as a loan from King Louis the 16th to the United States for transporting materials.
Her first task was to escort merchant ships carrying goods and materials to the United States in June 1779.

Battle of Flamborough Head. 23 September 1779. Here Bon Homme Richard clashed with the Baltic Fleet under HMS Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough. After 6pm a fierce battle broke out between the two ships, during which almost half the crews of both ships were killed within four hours! At first, the battle seemed to favour the heavily armed HMS Serapis. The English commanding officer called on the Americans to surrender. But they replied, "We have not yet begun to fight." Bon Homme's captain, Richard Jones, gradually began to benefit from a larger crew. A mutual attack to seize the other ship's deck was always repulsed. Eventually, after a stiff fight, the English surrendered at 10.30pm.

The Americans won but did not save the badly damaged ship by fighting and fire, and with a badly sealed hull. After another 36 hours of salvage efforts, the ship sank on the morning of 25 September 1779.

As a result of the battle, the French became convinced of the need to support the colonies and assist the Americans in their struggle for independence and freedom from British rule.

The dimensions of the ship were: length 46 m, beam 12 m, draft 5.8 m. The crew consisted of 380 men, and was armed with 28x 12 pounder guns; 6x 18 pounder guns; 8x 9 pounder guns.