'''John Paul Jones''' ([[July 6]], [[1747]] - [[July 18]], [[1792]]) was America's first well-known [[US Navy|naval]] hero in the [[American Revolutionary War]].
He was born in [[Kirkcudbright]], [[Scotland]]. He was, the son of a Scottish [[gardening|gardener]]. At the age of 12 he entered the British [[merchant marine]] and went to [[sea]] for the first time, as a cabin boy. In [[1773]], as the commander of a merchant vessel, he killed a mutinous crewman at [[Tobago]] in the [[West Indies]] and, rather than stay in [[prison]] and wait for [[trial]], he fled to [[North America]]. At the outbreak of [[war]] between the [[United States]] and [[Britain]] in [[1775]], John Paul Jones went to [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], and, with the help of two friendly members of the [[Continental Congress]], obtained a Lieutenant's commission in the [[Continental Navy]].