Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TheNickelGuy, post: 8333625, member: 20201&quot;]Paddy, they are beauts!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1967 John Paul Jones</b></p><p><b>National Commemorative Society</b></p><p><b>(NCS) Franklin Mint</b></p><p><b>39mm 26.6 gr .925 Silver</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>[ATTACH=full]1477302[/ATTACH] </b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1477304[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The lesser known story of</p><p><b>John Paul Jones</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1477305[/ATTACH] </p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Early Revolutionary War Command</b></p><p><br /></p><p>John Paul Jones sailed from the Delaware River in <b>December 1775 aboard Alfred</b> on the Continental Navy&#039;s maiden cruise. <b>It was aboard this vessel that Jones took the honor of hoisting the first U.S. ensign</b> - The Grand Union Flag, over a naval vessel.</p><p>The fleet had been expected to cruise along the coast but was ordered instead by Commodore Esek Hopkins to sail for The Bahamas, where Nassau was raided for military supplies. The fleet had an unsuccessful encounter with a British packet ship on their return voyage. Jones was then assigned command of the sloop USS Providence in 1776.</p><p>Congress had recently ordered the construction of thirteen frigates for the American Navy, one of which was to be commanded by Jones.</p><p>In exchange for this prestigious command, Jones accepted his commission aboard the smaller Providence. During this six-week voyage to Nova Scotia, Jones captured sixteen prizes and inflicted significant damage in the Raid on Canso.</p><p>Jones&#039; next command came as a result of Commodore Hopkins&#039;s orders to liberate hundreds of American prisoners forced to labor in coal mines in Nova Scotia, and also to raid British shipping.</p><p>On November 1, 1776, Jones set sail in command of Alfred to carry out this mission. Winter conditions prevented freeing the prisoners, but the mission did result in the capture of Mellish, a vessel carrying a vital supply of winter clothing intended for General John Burgoyne&#039;s troops in Canada.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1477306[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Later in 1782 John Paul Jones naval career he was appointed to command the 74-gun USS America, but his command fell through when Congress decided to give America to the French as replacement for the wrecked Le Magnifique.</p><p>As a result, he was given assignment in Europe in 1783 to collect prize money due his former hands.</p><p>At length, this too expired and Jones was left without prospects for active employment, leading him on April 23, 1787 to enter into the service of the Empress Catherine II of Russia.</p><p>As a rear admiral aboard the 24-gun flagship Vladimir, he took part in the naval campaign against the Turks, in concert with the Dnieper Flotilla commanded by Prince Charles of Nassau-Siegen and they successfully repulsed the Ottoman forces from the area, but the jealous intrigues of Nassau-Siegen turned the Russian commander Prince Grigory Potëmkin against Jones and he was recalled to St. Petersburg for the pretended purpose of being transferred to a command in the North Sea. Another factor may have been the resentment of several ex-British naval officers also in Russian employment, who regarded Jones as a renegade and refused to speak to him. Whatever motivated the Prince, once recalled he was compelled to remain in idleness, while rival officers plotted against him and even maliciously assailed his private character.</p><p>Jones was arrested and cleared eventually of some terrible accusations, but he admitted some wrongdoings with a 12 yr old girl that today would be unthinkable. Jones was an embittered man.</p><p>In 1789 Jones arrived in Warsaw, Poland, where he befriended Tadeusz Kosciuszko, another veteran of the American Revolutionary War. Kosciuszko advised him to leave the service of the autocratic Russia, and serve another power, suggesting Sweden. Despite Kosciuszko&#039;s backing, the Swedes, while somewhat interested, in the end decided not to recruit Jones.</p><p><br /></p><p>John Paul Jones died of Kidney failure at the age of 45. He was buried in Paris at the Saint Louis Cemetery, which belonged to the French royal family. Four years later, France&#039;s revolutionary government sold the property and the cemetery was forgotten. The area was later used as a garden, a place to dispose of dead animals and where gamblers bet on animal fights. After years past his body was located and in 1905 and his body was brought to the United States aboard the USS Brooklyn (CA-3), escorted by three other cruisers. On approaching the American coastline, seven U.S. Navy battleships joined the procession escorting Jones&#039;s body back to America.</p><p>On April 24, 1906, Jones&#039;s coffin was installed in a sarcophagus in Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1477307[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in