On the east side of the beach.

Captain Jones led a raid on the English port of Whitehaven on 23 April 1778, spiking the guns of the fortress, but failing in his attempt to burn the ships in the harbor.  The cannon likely is one from the Half-Moon Battery, which Jones spiked.

Despite limited tactical success, the raid showed the audacity and reach of the nascent Continental Navy, and alerted the British to the vulnerability of ports and shipping lanes along its coasts, causing Royal Navy ships to be dispatched against the ship in the Irish Sea.

UK 124 Recovery Company of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and B Company, 4th Battalion, Border Regiment, Territorial Army (TA) recovered the gun from the seabed near the shore in 1963. Central Volunteer Headquarters of the TA Volunteer Reserve, REME, presented the plaque later to the local Borough Council.

Source of information: www.whitehavenandwesternlakeland.co.uk, www.military.com

Source of photo: openplaques.org

JOHN PAUL JONES

In 1778 John Paul Jones of the American Navy raided the port of Whitehaven. He spiked the guns of the Half Moon Battery This cannon (known as Long Tom) was one of these guns. To commemorate this occasion and the recovery of the gun in 1963 near Tom Hurds Rock by 124 Recovery Company R.E.M.E. and B Company 4th Battalion Border Regiment T.A. This plaque was presented to Copeland Borough Council by Central Volunteer Headquarters

T.A.V.R. R.E.M.E..