36 Courage and Skill

John Paul Jones was one of the founders of the United States Navy. During the American Revolution, the colonies were desperate. They needed men to lead their small ships against the British fleet. Jones was more than willing to fight.

John Paul Jones had once been a captain of a British merchant ship. In 1773, his crew mutinied. One member of the crew tried to gain control of the ship. Jones shot the man to death. The mutiny took place near the port of Tobago, an island in the Caribbean. Authorities there decided to have a trial. This meant certain death for John Paul Jones, since the whole crew would testify against him. One night during a thunderstorm, he escaped from the jail.

He fled to the United States and lived with a family named Jones. His real name was John Paul. He added the name of Jones to his, in honor of the family. He outwitted the British ships that were sent to hunt him down. And he did this with little more than his own courage and the skill of his crew.

When the American Revolution ended, he went on to serve in the Russian navy. There he fought the Turks and achieved one of the few major naval victories in the history of Russia. He died in Paris at the age of forty-five.

John Paul Jones is considered both an American and Russian hero, but the English considered him a fugitive.

约翰·保罗·琼斯是美国海军的创始人之一。在美国独立战争期间，殖民地处境艰难，他们需要有人来率领小型船只对抗英国舰队，琼斯非常愿意参战。

约翰·保罗·琼斯曾是一艘英国商船的船长。1773年，他的船员发动了兵变，一名船员试图夺取船只的控制权，琼斯开枪将其击毙。兵变发生在加勒比海的多巴哥岛港口附近，当地当局决定对他进行审判，这意味着约翰·保罗·琼斯必死无疑，因为全体船员都会指证他。在一个雷雨交加的夜晚，他从监狱逃了出来。

他逃到美国，和一个姓琼斯的家庭住在一起。他的真实姓名是约翰·保罗，为了向这个家庭表示敬意，他在自己的名字后加上了琼斯。他智胜了派来追捕他的英国船只，而他仅凭自己的勇气和船员的技能就做到了这一点。

美国独立战争结束后，他继续在俄罗斯海军服役。在那里，他与土耳其人作战，并取得了俄罗斯海军史上为数不多的重大海战胜利之一。他在45岁时于巴黎去世。

约翰·保罗·琼斯被认为是美国和俄罗斯的双重英雄，但英国人认为他是一名逃犯。