John Paul Jones

On September 23, 1779, John Paul Jones aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard defeated the British frigate HMS Serepis and became the United States first well-known naval hero. An excerpt from the article:

"John Paul Jones was a Revolutionary War hero known as the father of the U.S. Navy. Born in Scotland in 1747, Jones came to America as a merchant sailor. When the American Revolution broke out, Jones sided with the colonists and joined the Continental Navy, with his greatest victory coming from his against-all-odds defeat of the British warship Serapis in 1779. After the Continental Navy disbanded, Jones found his way to Paris where he died in 1792. Over one hundred years later, his remains were brought back to the United States where he was laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Maryland."