After some early successes against British merchant shipping in the Irish Sea, on April 17, 1778, Jones convinced his crew to participate in an assault on Whitehaven, the same town where his maritime career began. Jones was thinking in his later memories about the reluctance of his senior officers (having tactfully avoided such matters in his official report): "Their aim, they said, was gain not honor. They were poor: instead of encouraging the morale of the crew, they excited them to disobedience; they persuaded them that they had the right to judge whether a measure that was proposed to them was good or not." As it happened, contrary winds forced the abandonment of the attempt, and drove Ranger towards Ireland, causing more trouble for British shipping on the way. [More]
