Serious poster collectors can also order A1 size versions, but these will be printed to order. The Filey Bay 1779 Group wish to thank TransPennine Express, Northern Rail and the Yorkshire Coast Rail Partnership for their support.

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FRIDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 19.00
There will be a Single Rocket Launch – to mark the approximate time the Battle commenced.
Dinner with Guest Speaker Dr David Pendleton discussing the British tactics in the Battle, Andrew Clay from Scarborough Museums Trust and musical entertainment by The SALTS singing sea shanties “with attitude” and special guest, poet Ian Duhig.
Filey Sea Cadet Pavilion, Southdene.
£20 per person – for Tickets – get in touch by email – Fileybay1779@gmail.com

SATURDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 13.00 – 16.00
Filey Bay 1779 Mobile Heritage Centre. Crescent Gardens.
Come and see the fabulous Mobile Heritage Centre to find out more about the Battle and what life was like in 1779 and on board a warship via the group’s amazing virtual reality galleon.

The Filey Bay 1779 mobile heritage centre

SUNDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 13.00- 16.00
Filey Bay 1779 Mobile Heritage Centre. Filey Seafront, Below Northcliffe Gardens, Cargate Hill.
A second  chance to visit the heritage centre and virtual reality galleon.
Sea Cadets Parade and Remembrance Service – 13.00 – 14.30 (approx)
Remembering the 400 men & boys who were injured and lost their lives during the Battle. The Parade Route will start at St Oswald’s and end at the Filey Sea Cadet Pavilion, with a short service taking place on the sea front, at the bottom of Cargate Hill.
Sea Cadets from Scarborough and Bridlington as well as Bridlington Air Cadets marching will be joining Filey Sea Cadets for this event!

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Among the guests of honour at the dinner were, left to right: Lord-Lieutenant East Yorkshire Jim Dick OBE; Vice Lord-Lieutenant North Yorkshire Chris Legard; High Sheriff North Yorkshire Venetia Wrigley DL; Kevin Hollinrake MP; High Sheriff East Yorkshire Richard Shepherdson. © Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media

The working group behind the Filey Bay 1779 initiative
© Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media

Kim and James Hodgson, key members of the Filey Bay 1779 Group
© Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media

Natalie Bosomworth of Filey Bay Today did a tremendous job with the after dinner raffle. © Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media

Visitors came from far and wide, including the John Paul Jones Museum at Dumfries
© Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media

The White Lodge Hotel provided a wonderful backdrop for the dinner and the food was superb
© Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media

The evening’s speakers, Dr David Pendleton and Bruce Blackburn of Merlin Burrows
© Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media

The spectacular fireworks on the Crescent Gardens
© Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media

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Sadly, due to the intervention of a Filey Town Councillor, the planned parade from St Oswald’s Church had to be cancelled because not all the correct forms had been filled out. So the cadets made their way from their base on Southdene to the Memorial Gardens. Of course, being well-trained they naturally walked in step and, by the time they arrived at the Memorial Gardens, their walk resembled a parade. All to the delight of a watching crowd that grew to around two hundred people.

The Commanding Officer of Filey’s Sea Cadets, Ken Lomas, said:

“Can I just say a huge thank you to the people of Filey. After not parading in public for nearly two years it was a great feeling to have the support of Filey community, as strong as ever. The applause as we left after the service were so appreciated and made us all proud to be there. Once again, thank you to everyone.”

Filey’s Sea Cadets arriving at the Memorial Gardens. Pic courtesy of Kim Hodgson.

The complainant Filey Town Councillor viewed events from outside CJ’s chip shop. Telling all who would listen about ‘procedures’ and how she ‘could have all this stopped’. Of course, we live in a democracy and she had every right to voice her opinions. As do the electorate.

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Due to the pandemic restrictions the planned guests from the United States were unable to travel, but diners were treated to a prerecorded video address from the Honorary President of Filey Bay 1779, the author and historian Donald Shomette, from the United States.

Among the guests at the dinner were representatives of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II: Mr Jim Dick OBE, Lord-Lieutenant of East Riding Yorkshire; Mr Chris Legard, Vice-Lord Lieutenant, North Yorkshire Lieutenancy Office; Venetia Wrigley DL, High Sheriff of North Yorkshire; and Richard Shepherdson Esq, East Riding High Sheriff.

The political world was represented by Kevin Hollinrake, MP, Thirsk & Malton; Cllr Helen Swiers, North Yorkshire County Council; and Cllr John Casey, Scarborough Borough Council.

The Filey Bay 1779 group are building a close relationship with the John Paul Jones Birthplace Museum near Dumfries and the manager of the museum, Susan Dixon, was in attendance. Another notable guest was James Mason, Chief Executive, Welcome to Yorkshire and representing the Royal Navy was Ken Lomas, Commanding Officer, Filey Sea Cadets.

A truly spectacular firework display was watched by a crowd of around one hundred people who had gathered on the Crescent Gardens. Afterwards the diners heard speeches from Dr David Pendleton on the Battle of Flamborough Head, and the often overlooked heroic defence of the vital convoy by the two Royal Navy ships, and finally Bruce Blackburn from Merlin Burrows on the continued search for the wreck of the USS Bonhomme Richard.

A raffle, ran in fabulous fashion by Filey Bay Today editor Natalie Bosomworth, raised well into four figures that will help run next year’s events. A highlight was the auctioning of artist Malcolm East’s original paintings of the battle, with one selling for over £500. Malcolm was in attendance and was delighted by the response to his works. His kind donation of the paintings perhaps epitomises the spirit of the event. The community really came together to make the evening a roaring success.

One of Malcolm East’s lovely paintings of the Battle of Flamborough Head

Sadly, due to international tensions in the wake of the withdrawal of US and British troops from Afghanistan, the scheduled visit of a US Navy warship in the bay had to be cancelled. Similarly the hoped for delegation from the United States Embassy were unable to attend. However, we understand that 23 September 2022 is very much in the diary of both the US Embassy and the US Navy.

On Sunday 26 September in the Memorial Gardens, Filey Sea Cadets will gather at 2pm for the service of remembrance led by the Vicar of Filey to honour all those who took part in the Battle of Flamborough Head. Unfortunately, we understand that the planned parade from St Oswald’s Church to the Memorial Gardens had to be cancelled as a Filey Town Councillor raised objections as all the necessary permissions had not been gained from the local authority.

The Serapis flag flying at The White Lodge Hotel.

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On 23 September 1779 Captain Pearson RN was tasked with escorting the annual convoy of merchant ships from the Baltic that delivered raw materials to the southern English ports that constructed, and serviced, the ships of the Royal Navy. When Captain Pearson spotted the Franco-American squadron commanded by John Paul Jones, he did not hesitate to place his frigate HMS Serapis and the sloop HMS Countess of Scarborough between the convoy and an enemy that out-gunned his ships by more than two to one.

Although the subsequent Battle of Flamborough Head saw the capture of both the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, Captain Pearson saved the convoy he was escorting. In that respect he fulfilled his task. The loss of one frigate and a sloop was inconsequential to the Royal Navy, in complete contrast, the loss of the convoy would have seriously impacted British naval activities for months and several years. So whilst the Battle of Flamborough Head was undoubtedly a morale boosting, and even a nation affirming victory, for the emerging United States, it was also in some respects a victory for the Royal Navy. Captain Pearson’s unflinching defence of his convoy in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds reinforced a spirit of dogged defiance that had, and has, served the Royal Navy for centuries, from the Spanish Armada until the early years of the Second World War, when Britain stood alone against the Nazi threat.

The self-sacrifice that Pearson set has been mirrored many times, but perhaps none more so than in May 1940 when thirty-seven ship convoy HX84 from Halifax Nova Scotia to Britain was intercepted mid-Atlantic by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer. The convoy’s only escort was the armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay. The former liner was armed with a mere seven 1898-vintage 6 inch guns and two 3 inch guns of 1894 design. She lacked any armoured protection. By contrast the Admiral Scheer boasted six 11 inch guns and was so fast that only a handful of the Royal Navy’s capital ships were able to catch, and outgun, her.

Yet, like Captain Pearson 161 years earlier, Edward Fegen, commanding the Jervis Bay, ordered his convoy to scatter and charged the German pocket battleship. It was an act of heroic self-sacrifice that captured the spirit of the nation. Isolated and hopelessly out-gunned, Captain Fegen accepted the challenge that fate had handed him. His ship was overwhelmed by gunfire, the range was such that they could not even reply, but for an hour the Jervis Bay held off the German ship, allowing time for the majority of the convoy to escape.

The Jervis Bay charges the Admiral Scheer to save the convoy

Captain Fegen, and the crew of the Jervis Bay, were rightly lauded as heroes. Fegen was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. He, along with 185 other crew members, went down with his ship. Sixty-eight survivors were plucked from the North Atlantic (three of whom later succumbed to their wounds).

The action is featured as part of the miniature naval warfare battle that takes place on Scarborough’s Peasholm Park lake every summer. One can only wonder how many of the watching holidaymakers are aware of the example set by Captain Pearson at the Battle of Flamborough Head so many years earlier? We feel that part of the remit of Filey Bay 1779 is to ensure that the heroic actions of the crews of the Royal Navy ships the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough are not forgotten.

Jervis Bay engages the Admiral Scheer on Peasholm Park Lake

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The LNER poster depicting the Battle of Flamborough Head features the battle’s two main protagonists, the USS Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis, hotly engaged. Produced as it was in the inter-war period, the poster appeals to Britain’s maritime heritage, perceptions of the romance of the sailing ship era and Britain’s cultural alliance with the United States.

The artist who produced the work was Frank Henry Mason. He was an inspired choice. Mason was born in sight of the sea at Seaton Carew, Hartlepool in 1875. His father was a clerk with the North Eastern Railway. However, Frank appeared to be set on a career at sea, being a cadet in the Royal Navy aboard the training ship HMS Conway, before joining the Newcastle-based Parson’s Marine Steam Turbine Company.

After selling a number of paintings, Frank quit his job in 1898 to become a full-time artist. He moved to Scarborough, where he studied at the Scarborough School of Art under the great Albert Strange. Frank lived around the North Bay at Scarborough at various addresses, including Blenheim Terrace and North Marine Road. He became a member of the famous Staithes Group of artists, who were renowned for painting coastal scenes en plein air, in the manner of the French Impressionists. During World War One Frank served in the Royal Naval Reserve and commanded a launch in Egypt and the Middle East. However, it was his work as an official war artist that is his enduring legacy to that conflict. The Imperial War Museum in London houses no less than fifty-six of his works from the period.

After the war Frank found himself in demand as a travel poster artist. He produce a huge number of railway posters for a myriad of railway companies and shipping lines. Around 1930 he produced a poster for the LNER that used the imagery of the Battle of Flamborough Head that was designed to entice holidaymakers to the Yorkshire coast. The success of the design is such that, nine decades later, it can be purchased as a reproduction from the National Railway Museum at York.

Frank’s paintings still attract good prices and the Scarborough-based auctioneers David Duggleby’s often offer his work for sale. He has been the subject of several retrospectives with exhibitions at Beverley, Greenock, Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby, to name a few. It is hoped that, as part of future commemorations of the Battle of Flamborough Head, his posters, along with an appropriate context of the artist and his work, will appear on the railway stations of the Yorkshire coast line that runs between Hull and Scarborough. Bringing the story of the artist and the battle to a wide and varied audience.

Frank Henry Mason’s poster of Scarborough produced for British Railways

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At 7pm a rocket was fired to mark the opening shots of the battle and to remember the four hundred sailors who died when an American-French force attempted to intercept a British convoy of some forty merchantmen. The resulting battle has entered American folklore and the captain of the Bonhomme Richard, John Paul Jones, is now known as the ‘father of the American Navy’.

As ever the reality of the battle is far more complicated. The two Royal Navy ships escorting the convoy were outnumbered and outgunned by the American and French flotilla. Despite that the Royal Navy ships placed themselves between the convoy and the onrushing attackers. The convoy escaped to the safety of Scarborough where they would be guarded by the guns of the castle. At 7pm the Bonhomme Richard opened fire on HMS Serapis.

Captain Pearson in command of HMS Serapis must have realised that the odds were stacked against him. His two ships had a combination of 64 guns, whilst the American-French force of five ships had 124 guns. But in the ensuing battle Captain Pearson came within an ace of winning. He riddled the Bonhomme Richard with fire. The twenty gun HMS Countess of Scarborough made such a nuisance of herself that it took two French frigates to subdue her. All the while the valuable convoy was disappearing towards the safety of Scarborough.

The course of the battle changed when the Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis became entangled. Seizing the moment John Paul Jones ordered his crew to board the Serapis. The crew of the Bonhomme Richard was a hundred larger than their Royal Navy foes and thus, after a hard fight, they managed to capture the British ship. It came not a moment too soon as the Bonhomme Richard was little more than a blazing wreck. She later sank, some believe beneath the cliffs at Speeton, and passed into the pages of history.

John Paul Jones sailed the badly battered Serapis to neutral Holland. When they arrived the British ambassador claimed that Jones should be arrested for piracy as he did not represent any nation state. The crew of the Serapis fashioned a flag and hoisted it. That flag was recognised by the Dutch and it is today know as the ‘Serapis flag’.

So why should the people of Filey remember a battle that ended with the capture of two Royal Navy vessels? From a purely commercial point of view, given the huge significance of the battle to American history, it is worth attempting to tap into a potentially lucrative vacation market. But, we should also remember that Captain Pearson of the Serapis, despite being outgunned, took on the American and French ships and did his job of protecting the convoy. Additionally, from a crew of 380 on the Bonhomme Richard, 64 were British and 21 Irish. The captain himself, John Paul Jones, was Scottish born and raised in Whitehaven in Cumbria.

This year the commemorations had to be scaled back, but for 2021 it is hoped that a much larger event will take place on the days around the anniversary of the battle. Watch this space!

The Serapis flag flying at The White Lodge Hotel.

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The Battle of Flamborough Head is one of the most famous event to have taken place in the waters of the North Sea. In 1779 the American War of Independence spread to the unlikely location of Flamborough Head. A joint Franco-American squadron, attempting to draw the British Home Fleet northwards so a joint Franco-Spanish invasion could take place in the south of England, stumbled across a large British convoy of Baltic timber off Flamborough Head. Two Royal Navy ships, vastly outgunned by their French and American foes, saved the convoy, but were captured or sank in the act. 

However, the real significance of the battle wasn’t about ships sunk, it became emblematic of the pluck and courage of the fledgling American nation. The American commander John Paul Jones, who was in fact a Scotsman sailing in a French ship, became known as ‘the father of the American Navy’. His ship, the Bonhomme Richard, despite being sunk during the battle, is now a legendary name in American naval history and to this day there is a USS Bonhomme Richard and a USS John Paul Jones serving in the US Navy.

In December last year Bruce Blackburn, the chief executive officer of Merlin Burrows, gave a presentation at the White Lodge Hotel, Filey, where he explained the company’s work in tracking down the previously elusive remains of the Bonhomme Richard. The company thoroughly researched contemporary reports of the Battle of the Flamborough Head and worked closely with a Filonian team led by Tony Green, whose years of research into the vessel proved to be invaluable. They concluded that the wreck was likely to be in inshore waters.

Merlin Burrows began searching specific areas of Filey Bay using satellite technology to look for anomalies that would narrow the area to be searched by their specialist dive team. Their investigations came to a conclusion last year when their divers photographed the remains of canons, ships timbers and the other detritus of a wreck that has since been proven to be the Bonhomme Richard. 

The fact that the wreck lies within Filey Bay offers a huge opportunity for Filey and the surrounding area. As the owner of the White Lodge, James Hodgson, explained, his American wife Kim, along with every American schoolchild, was taught about the Battle of Flamborough Head during her education. Now it has been discovered, the wreck site, and surrounding area, could become a site of pilgrimage for thousands of Americans.

One of Merlin Burrows staff has been liaising with the crew of the current USS Bonhomme Richard, a helicopter carrier, and they expressed a desire to visit the site of the wreck at some point in the future. The site of an American carrier in Filey Bay would in itself attract visitors to the area. Clearly, other events could be built around such a visit, or perhaps visits of many other passing US Navy ships in the future. 

The current USS Bonhomme Richard

However such visits would be one-off events, what Yorkshire needs to be ready for is year-round tourism from across the Atlantic. In particular, Filey needs to have a series of sites for such visitors to view, otherwise their presence will be fleeting and it is likely to be York, or other larger towns, that will benefit from the discovery of the Bonhomme Richard. A popular itinerary for American visitors is London, York and Edinburgh. A diversion to Filey Bay would fit neatly into that well-trod path. There is a fledgling John Paul Jones trail emerging, a John Paul Jones Birthplace Museum has been established in the cottage where the Bonhomme Richard’s captain, John Paul Jones, was born in south west Scotland. The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven has a section on John Paul Jone’s raid on his former home town in the weeks leading up to the Battle of Flamborough Head. Aside from the storyboard in the Crescent Gardens, and the public house Bonhommes, there is precious little to attract American visitors to Filey at present.

So what of the wreck of the Bonhomme Richard itself? A French ship, sailing under an American flag, with a Scottish captain in British waters? Legal opinion is split, the French have often coveted the wreck, but maritime convention appears to suggest that as the Bonhomme Richard was fighting under the American flag, the wreck is the property of America. Merlin Burrows have registered the Bonhomme Richard with the Receiver of Wrecks in London, so there is also a possibility that the wreck could remain beneath the waves of Filey Bay. There is no possibility of a Mary Rose style raising of the wreck as the ship was virtually shot to pieces during the Battle of Flamborough Head. However, there are a great many other artefacts that could be placed on public display (and wouldn’t it be marvellous for Filey Museum to have something from the wreck), but until the legal wrangle over the ownership is resolved, the Bonhomme Richard will remain among the shifting sands of Filey Bay. 

The opportunities that will emerge with the wreck of the Bonhomme Richard are almost limitless. Increased tourism, visiting warships, links with museums in America and France, historical and archeological events. The Bonhomme Richard was stretching its own horizons when it sailed in Filey Bay 240 years ago, now the ship offers the town of Filey an opportunity to widen its own horizon across the Atlantic and into one of the most lucrative tourist markets on the planet.

Storyboard on Crescent Gardens, explaining Battle of Flamborough Head

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