USS Bonhomme Richard (1765)

History
United States
Name	Bonhomme Richard
Namesake	Benjamin Franklin
Builder	French East India Company
Laid down	1765
Launched	1766[1]
Acquired	4 February 1779
In service	4 February 1779
Out of service	25 September 1779[1]
Fate	Sunk by HMS Serapis
General characteristics
Tonnage	998
Length	152 ft (46 m)[1]
Beam	40 ft (12 m)[1]
Draft	19 ft (5.8 m)[1]
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	380 officers and enlisted[1]
Armament	28 × 12-pound smoothbore 6 × 18-pound smoothbore 8 × 9-pound smoothbore[1]

Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc de Duras, was a warship in the American Continental Navy named for Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. She was originally an East Indiaman, a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765, for service between France and Asia. She was placed at the disposal of John Paul Jones on 4 February 1779, by King Louis XVI of France as a result of a loan to the United States by French shipping magnate Jacques-Donatien Le Ray.