Richard Dale

Richard Dale (November 6, 1756 – February 26, 1826) was an American naval officer who fought in the Continental Navy under John Barry and was first lieutenant for John Paul Jones during the naval battle off of Flamborough Head, England against HMS Serapis in the celebrated engagement of September 23, 1779. He became one of the six original commodores of the permanent United States Navy, and commanded a blockade of Tripoli in 1801 during the First Barbary War of Thomas Jefferson's presidency.

Richard Dale was born in Portsmouth parish, Norfolk County, Virginia, the eldest son of Winfield Dale, shipwright and merchant, and Ann Sutherland. His father died when Dale was ten years old. Two years later, Dale signed on with a merchant vessel owned by an uncle that took him to Liverpool, England. Upon his return to Virginia, Dale became apprenticed to a ship-owner, through whom he made several journeys to the West Indies. Within five years, he achieved the rank of chief mate on a valuable brig. He remained in the merchant service until the spring of 1776.

Dale's record during the Revolutionary War proved eclectic. After departing the merchant service in 1776 he signed on as a lieutenant in the navy of the colony of Virginia. His tenure proved brief, since he was captured shortly thereafter by a tender of the frigate HMS Liverpool. He knew many of the men in the ship's crew from his time as a merchant, and they persuaded Dale to sign up for the British cause. He served for Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia. While fighting for the British, Dale received his first battle wounds when he was caught in a confrontation with American pilot boats. During his convalescence in Norfolk, Virginia, he determined that he would return to the patriot cause at his first opportunity. En route to Jamaica, the British vessel upon which Dale traveled was captured by the American Captain John Barry on his ship USS Lexington. Dale volunteered to serve on the American ship, and entered their service with the rank of Midshipman. He continued on with Lexington after Barry was replaced as captain by William Hallock, who promoted Dale to Master's Mate. Unfortunately for Dale, the ship was captured by the British frigate HMS Pearl. Select officers from Lexington were taken onto Pearl as prisoners, Dale included, although a sudden gale permitted the rest of the America crew to escape. In January 1777, Dale was released in a prisoner exchange and returned to Lexington, now under yet another captain, Henry Johnston. Lexington joined a squadron that caused some destruction on the coast of Ireland, which compelled the British to chase and, eventually, capture the brig and its crew. They were taken to Plymouth, England and the crew imprisoned in Mill Prison in September 1777.

Charged with high treason against the crown, Johnston, Dale and the rest of the crew were treated harshly in the prison. A lack of sufficient food compelled them at one point to kill and eat a dog for survival. Their conditions improved only after sympathetic British civilians collected enough money to supply them with the bare necessities for sustenance. Still, the American sailors were unprepared to wait out the remainder of the war in prison, and dug a tunnel under the wall through which they attempted to make their escape. Dale and a colleague were re-captured as they attempted to board a ship from London to Dunkirk, and were returned to Mill Prison. As punishment for their escape attempt, they were both subjected to forty days of solitude in the "Black Hole."

While in prison, Dale obtained a journal wherein he used his time constructively. He continued the education he had not completed in his youth. He taught himself the multiplication table, different weights and measures, multiplication and division, as well as fractions. He also examined the rules of barter, stocks and interest, and created a glossary of different naval commands necessary to captain a ship.

After a captivity at Mill Prison that lasted over a year, Dale finally managed to successfully escape in February, 1779. He walked out of the prison gates without creating suspicion, wearing the uniform of a British officer. He never recorded how he had obtained the uniform. He also obtained the necessary papers in London to leave England and make his escape to L'Orient, France.

In L'Orient, Dale signed on as Master's Mate with John Paul Jones on USS Bonhomme Richard, which was a French East Indiaman that had been converted to a warship. He received a promotion to First Lieutenant in short order. The ship cruised along the west coast of Ireland and brought the war into British waters. Through the capture or destruction of many vessels, he contributed to the disruption of British trade, and made many residents impatient for the war to end.

On September 23, 1779, Bonhomme Richard met HMS Serapis off the coast of Flamborough Head, near Yorkshire. Described as being somewhat reckless in his bravery, Dale commanded the forward guns in the close fighting of the battle. When rumors that Bonhomme Richard was sinking reached him from below decks, and that the crew was prepared to surrender, Dale went to ascertain the damage. Upon his assessment that the ship would not yet sink, he inspired the crew to persist in the fight. He compelled his British prisoners to man the pumps to keep the ship afloat while the battle continued above.