Naval Order of the US – Northwest

The “spiritual father” of the US Navy “died on the afternoon of 18 July 1792.”

“Less than two weeks after his 45th birthday, John Paul Jones was found in his Paris apartment lying facedown on the bed, his feet on the floor. Although not a religious man, the position of the body led to speculation that he was attempting to kneel as he took his last breath….Given his Scottish Calvinist upbringing and the unwillingness of American officials to take responsibility, he was buried in a Protestant cemetery on the outskirts of the French capital. It would be 113 years before Jones would return to America and receive the honors and recognition he so craved during the last years of his life.”

After a successful but exhaustive search for his remains in Paris, they were finally returned to Chesapeake Bay, arriving on 22 July 1905.  Seven battleships accompanied “the cruisers on the final leg of the journey to Annapolis, Maryland, and the U.S. Naval Academy. As the Brooklyn passed, four of the battle wagons fired a 15-gun salute.”

You can read this fascinating story from Naval History Magazine, (February 2012, volume 26, No. I, by CAPT Patrick Grant, USN-Ret) by clicking HERE.