HMS Serapis (1779)

HMS ''Serapis'' was a Royal Navy two-decked, fifth rate. Randall & Company built her at Deptford Dockyard, Greenwich and launched her in March, 1779. She was originally armed with 44 guns (twenty 18-pounders, twenty 9-pounders, and four 6-pounders). ''Serapis'' was named after the god Serapis in Greek and Egyptian mythology. The Americans captured her during the American Revolutionary War, American War of Independence. They transferred her to the French, who commissioned her as a privateer. She was lost off Madagascar in 1781 to a fire.

American War of Independence

''Serapis'' was commissioned in June 1779 under Richard Pearson (Royal Navy officer), Captain Richard Pearson. On 23 September she engaged the American warship 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 46 guns, mounting 2 additional six 6-pounders. Log of Serapis, Naval History Society, 1911 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).Crocker (2004), p.65. The famous quote, "I have not yet begun to fight!" 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, , 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.

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, ''Serapis'' flag was secretly entered into the Dutch records to avoid the charges of piracy. ''Serapis'' and her consort, HM Hired armed vessels, hired armed ship , 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.

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.

On 31 July 1781, ''Sérapis'' was at Madagascar, trading spirits and arak for rice, when the load master, lieutenant de frégate L'Héritier, had candles taken out of their fire-proof lanterns. The candles ignited alcohol vapour in the hull. 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.

Discovery of the wreck

In November 1999, American nautical archeologists Richard Swete and Michael Tuttle located the remains of ''Serapis'' at Île Sainte-Marie.

See also

* Serapis flag

Citations

References

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External links

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Serapis Project
- project to locate the ''Serapis''.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Serapis (1779)
Military units and formations of Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War
Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean
Maritime incidents in 1781
1779 ships
Ships built in Rotherhithe