Ships Named Bonhomme Richard

Three ships of the United States Navy have borne the name Bonhomme Richard or Bon Homme Richard (pronounced "BOHN-uhm REE-shard"), the French language equivalent of "Goodman Richard," in honor of Benjamin Franklin the US Ambassador to France at the time. The name Bonhomme Richard is derived from the pen name of Benjamin Franklin, the author of "Poor Richard's Almanak" and as near an approach to nationality as that circumstance would well allow.

• The first Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc de Durae, a frigate built in France for the French East India Company, was placed at the disposal of John Paul Jones in 1779 by the French King Louis XVI.

• The second Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) later upgraded and redesignated Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) was an Essex-class aircraft carrier that saw action at the end of World War II, throughout the Korean War, and through the Vietnam War.

• The third Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship homeported in San Diego, California and serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Would-be Bonhomme Richards

• In 1864, Congress authorized the 3,700-ton Ammonoosuc class screw frigate to take the name Bonhomme Richard, but the vessel was never built.
• On September 26, 1942, while still under construction, the name of CV 10 was changed from Bonhomme Richard to Yorktown (the previous Yorktown was lost three months earlier at the Battle of Midway).