PEARSON, RICHARD
Pearson, Richard
(March 1731–January 1806)
English Naval Officer
P
earson was an ac-
tive and enterpris-
ing officer with a
long history of distin-
guished action. However,
having bested the Ameri-
can frigate Bonhomme
Richard in a gunnery
duel, he learned that its
captain had not yet begun
to fight.
Richard Pearson was
born in Westmoreland,
England, in March 1743,
and he joined the Royal
Navy in 1745 at the age of
- He completed several
Mediterranean cruises
aboard a succession of
warships, but in 1750 he
left the navy to work for
the more profitable East
India Company. In 1755,
war with France ap-
peared looming, so Pear-
son rejoined, passed his examination, and
was commissioned a fourth lieutenant. In this
capacity he accompanied Adm. John Pocock
to India and was closely engaged at the Bay of
Bengal, Negapatam, and Pondicherry (1758–
1759). By 1761, he was fighting aboard the
HMS Norfolkunder Capt. Richard Kempen-
felt. On one occasion, when a severe hurri-
cane lashed the ship and injured his captain,
Pearson took command of the Norfolkand
sailed it to safety. The following year he was
present at the capture of Manila and subse-
quently served in the West Indies for several
years. Pearson had acquired the reputation as
an excellent sailor and officer, so in 1773 he
obtained a promotion to captain. After the
American Revolution commenced in 1775, he
performed convoy duty to Quebec and re-
mained in the St. Law-
rence River until 1778.
The following year he re-
ceived command of the
new 44-gun frigate HMS
Serapis,an unusual war-
ship of its class in that it
possessed two gundecks
instead of one.
In the fall of 1779 Pear-
son was entrusted the im-
portant duty of escorting
a convoy home from the
Baltic Sea. He was as-
sisted by the private
armed 16-gun vessel
Countess of Scarbo-
rough. By this time the
Continental Navy had
been all but swept from
the sea, save for a hand-
ful of vessels operating
from French ports, and
little trouble was antici-
pated. On September 23,
1779, Pearson rounded Flamborough Head
when he espied a red flag flying from Scarbor-
ough Castle, indicating that enemy vessels
were nearby. Rather than risk his charge, he
signaled the convoy to put into Scarborough
for their own safety, but the merchant ships
ignored him. Around two o’clock in the after-
noon, Pearson observed strange sails ap-
proaching from the south. He quickly tacked
the Serapis,keeping it between the convoy
and the enemy, and awaited their approach.
Pearson did not realize it, but he was about
to engage a squadron of warships com-
manded by the noted American raider John
Paul Jones. Jones possessed his own leaky
East Indiaman, the 20-gun Bonhomme
Richard, the Continental frigate Alliance
under French Capt. Pierre Landais, the 32-gunRichard Pearson
National Maritime Museum