Little Hawk-

We're probably not unique in burying our less than glorious history. Check out the Battle of the Penobscot here in Maine during the Revolutionary War. What a cast of characters, Commodore Saltonstall, Paul Revere, and many more! A huge fleet of American ships, more than 50 including transports, all focused on trying to take one half-built British fort.
Well, they diddled about for a month. Then five well-armed British ships came to the rescue, chased the American fleet up the Penobscot River, and all were set fire to avoid capture. That's when I discovered that to better appreciate history one had to go beyond the text book.

Les-

Jones' crew was primarily a mixture of American and British sailors, and French marines:

"79 Americans, 61 Englishmen, 33 Portugese, 18 Irishmen, 7 Sweedes, 5 Scotchmen, 3 Norwegians, 1 Italian, 1 Swiss, 1 Frenchmen, and 34 of unknown nationalities." In addition there was a company of French marines, 5 officiers and 132 men.

He later

The decisive factor was John Paul Jones himself.

When the British prisoners from his prizes made a rush for the deck as their quarters began to fill with water, it was Jones who confronted them in the midst of the battle and convinced them to help pump or sink with the ship.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble