It's really quite amazing that John Paul Jones managed to win the battle, considering that his ancient 18-pounder guns mostly blew up the first time they were fired, killing most of his best gunners!

Sheesh. It's not often that a commander survives negligence of that sort (using 3rd rate equipment, I mean) and still goes on to win the battle. He must have had a lot of nerve. Sounds like the British captain had a lot of nerve too.