John Paul Jones

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John Paul Jones

United States naval officer

Also known as: John Paul

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Quick Facts

Original name:: John Paul

Born:: July 6, 1747, Kirkbean, Kirkcudbright, Scotland

Died:: July 18, 1792, Paris, France (aged 45)

Awards And Honors:: Hall of Fame (1925)

Role In:: engagement between “Bonhomme Richard” and “Serapis”

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John Paul Jones (born July 6, 1747, Kirkbean, Kirkcudbright, Scotland—died July 18, 1792, Paris, France) was an American naval hero in the American Revolution, renowned for his victory over British ships of war off the east coast of England (September 23, 1779). Apprenticed at age 12 to John Younger, a Scottish merchant shipper, John Paul sailed as a cabin boy on a ship to Virginia, where he visited his elder brother William at Fredericksburg. When Younger’s business failed in 1766, Paul found work as chief mate of a Jamaica-owned slaver brigantine. After two years he quit the slave trade and ...(100 of 568 words)

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