A Journall Kept on Board the American Continental Ship
of War, _Ariel_, of 26--Nine Pounders, Commanded by
the Honble. John Paul Jones Esqr. commencing in the
Port of L'Orient June the 16th: 1780.
Although under the date of the 16th, in the account of the
occurrences on shore, is written "Commencement of the _Ariels_
Journall," the first entry following the complete heading is on June
18th.
The remarks on the following days are full of interest. The ship
could hardly have been more than a hulk, in no way prepared for
sea, for until the 8th of October--nearly three months--they show
that she was remasted, sparred, altered, repaired, and refitted
with sails and new rigging, besides receiving on board quantities
of stores, clothing, and munitions of war, destined for America,
that the _Alliance_ had been unable to take. The movements of the
_Alliance_ under Landais are also recorded prior to her departure.
On the 2d of September a grand entertainment was given by Jones,
during which he endeavored to represent the battle with the _Serapis_
to a large and distinguished company. An amusing description of
another entertainment, about December 10th, appears in Fanning's
narrative,[15] who figures in the log entry on the 2d of September as
having been kicked by Jones and ordered below.
[Footnote 15: See Appendix E for Fanning's account of Jones'
entertainment. Although he states it to have occurred about December
10th, it probably is that recorded September 2d in the _Ariel's_ log.]
Although apparently ready for sea early in September, the ship was
moved only to the Roads of Groix, where she lay until the 8th of
October, apparently detained by contrary winds or foul weather. On
that day she got to sea, and on the very night of her departure
encountered a heavy gale which increased to a hurricane the following
day, in which the ship was nearly lost.
The remarks of the 9th and 10th of October describe the distress of
the ship, with some particularity for a formal log entry, but a more
detailed account of this great storm is found in a report signed by
the officers of the _Ariel_ which Jones procured, possibly to confirm
his own report of the gale and its effects, which he gives in his
journal for the King.
He sailed from the Roads of Groix with such a quantity of arms and
powder as filled the ship even between decks; the wind was fair
and weather pleasant, but the next night the _Ariel_ was driven by
the violent tempest close to the rocks of Penmarque, a terrible
ledge between L'Orient and Brest. The ship could show no sail, but
was almost buried under water, not having room to run before the
wind, and having several feet of water in the hold. Finding the
depth of water diminishing fast, Jones in the last extremity cast
anchor, but could not bring the ship's head to the wind. Sometimes
the lower yard-arms touched the water, and Jones had no remedy left
but to cut away the foremast. This had the desired effect, and the
ship immediately came head to the wind. The mainmast had got out of
the step, and now reeled about like a drunken man. Foreseeing the
danger of its either breaking off below the gun-deck or going through
the ship's bottom, Jones ordered it to be cut away, but, before
this could be done, the chain plates gave way, and the mainmast
breaking off by the gun-deck carried with it the mizzenmast, and the
mizzenmast carried away the quarter-gallery; two additional cables
were spliced and veered out. In that situation the _Ariel_ rode in
the open ocean to windward of perhaps the most dangerous ledge of
rocks in the world, for two days and two nights, in a tempest that
covered the shore with wrecks and dead bodies, and that drove ships
ashore from their anchors, even in the port of L'Orient.[16]
[Footnote 16: See Appendix G for Fanning's account of the storm which
wrecked the _Ariel_.]
This terrible gale was felt nearly all over Europe. In the
_Gentleman's Magazine_ for November, 1780, it is stated that "this
dreadful hurricane was one of those tremendous tempests of which two
or three occur in an age." In England it occurred on the night of
Sunday, October 8th, and did immense damage by sea and land. It is a
singular coincidence that, while Jones was experiencing this dreadful
hurricane on the French coast, his opponent of a twelvemonth before
equally felt its effects on the English coast.
In a letter to the Admiralty, dated on board the _Alarm_, at
Plymouth, October 10, 1780, Sir Richard Pearson states as follows:
I arrived here on the evening of the 8th, it blowing
very hard at S. E.; the next morning the wind shifted
suddenly to W. N. W. and blew a gale all yesterday
from that to W. S. W. and S. W. and continued until
one or two o'clock this morning; in which I had the
misfortune to part my two Bowers and Sheet Cable,
and was reduced to my spare anchor, which I had
providentially got two cables on, which brought me
up at eleven o'clock last night, when I found myself
under the necessity of cutting away all my masts
for the preservation of his Majesty's ship and the
lives of my people. I am now in the same distressing
situation as I was last night.[17]
[Footnote 17: This letter is taken from the papers deposited in the
British Museum, known as the Filkin Manuscripts, in ten note-books.
They contain an extensive collection of memoranda--extracts from
magazines, newspapers, contemporaneous publications, and Admiralty
documents--collected by Mr. Filkin with the intention of writing
another Life of Paul Jones. Mr. Filkin dying, his note-books were
presented to the British Museum. Full copies of them are in the
editor's collection.]
The storm continuing until the morning of the 10th, notwithstanding
the heavy sea Jones succeeded on that and the following day in
getting up jury, fore, and mizzen masts, and on the 11th, at noon,
cut the cable, got under way, and anchored the _Ariel_ on the 13th of
October in the harbor of L'Orient.
The journal of the _Ariel_ ends on the 14th of October. She remained
at L'Orient until the 18th of December, when she again sailed, and
arrived safely in the United States, having encountered an enemy's
ship, supposed by Jones to be named the _Triumph_, which, after a
short resistance, struck her colors, and a few minutes afterward
(according to Jones) her captain had the baseness to fill his sails
and run away. This voyage in the _Ariel_ was the last service at sea
performed by John Paul Jones under the American flag. He arrived in
Philadelphia on February 18, 1781, having been absent from the United
States three years, three months, and eighteen days.
Following the last entry of the _Ariel's_ log, several leaves
have been torn out. The book was reversed again, and immediately
following "A List of The Men Names that has Desarted from The _Bone
Homme Richard_, Lorient July, 19th. 1779" we find, in the identical
handwriting of the logs of the _Serapis_, _Alliance_, and _Ariel_,
"A List of Officers, & Men, belonging to the American Continental
Ship of War, _Ariel_, Commanded, by the Honble, John Paul Jones."
A comparison of this list with the muster-roll of the _Bon Homme
Richard_ shows that most of the officers and many of the crew of the
former still followed the fortunes of Jones.