Jones, John Paul

Jones, John Paul (1747-92), American naval officer, b. Kirkbean, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland.

John Paul Jones was born John Paul, the son of a gardener in Scotland.

He served for some years as a sailor in the slave trade and then settled in Virginia in North America, using the name of Paul Jones.

In the American War of Independence (1775-83), Jones was given command of a warship and he sailed into the waters around Britain. He captured a British sloop and sank a ship named Serapis in the North Sea and for a time led a small fleet of French ships.

After the war, the United States disbanded its navy and Jones went to serve as a rear-admiral in the Russian Navy in the Black Sea.

He settled in Paris in 1789 and died there.

See Evan Thomas John Paul Jones