Serapis Surrenders; Bonhomme Richard Sinks
- When
- 23–24 September 1779
- Where
- North Sea off Flamborough Head
- Part of
- Battle of Flamborough Head
Pearson surrendered his sword as Serapis' mainmast fell; the next morning all hands abandoned Bonhomme Richard, which sank shortly before 11 am.
A short time after the fighting, as Pearson boarded Bonhomme Richard to hand over his ceremonial sword, Serapis' mainmast finally fell overboard, dragging the damaged mizzen-top-mast with it. With the wind strengthening, all personnel abandoned Bonhomme Richard at 10 am the next day; just before 11, as a boat approached from Serapis to salvage a few more items, Bonhomme Richard sank. Pearson's postscript reported "many more than" 49 dead and 68 wounded aboard Serapis, while his figure of 300 casualties aboard Bonhomme Richard seems very high unless it included many captives kept below decks during the battle.
Sources
- Battle of Flamborough Head Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-21
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.