He had been a seaman since the age 13 and when the war broke out with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, he joined the Continental Navy.

After his decisive win at the Battle of Flamborough Head, he continued raiding ports and British ships, endearing him to French citizens.

His body was brought back to the U.S., and there were immediate calls for a memorial to be erected in Washington, D.C., to honor one of the Revolutionary War's greatest heroes.

The bronze statue, depicting Jones watching a battle while wearing a military uniform, stands on a tall marble pylon.

In 1779, Jones encountered two British warships, Countess of Scarborough and HMS Serapis, and successfully won the Battle of Flamborough Head.

[4] It was during this battle that Jones allegedly told British Captain Richard Pearson a famous quote "Surrender?

At the conclusion of the war, the United States selected Jones to retrieve money owed to American citizens.

[8] A few years earlier in 1902, Representative Frank D. Currier introduced a bill in Congress that would authorize the erection of a memorial at a cost of $50,000.

There is no more interesting character in our history than Paul Jones, and it is a shame that there is not at the Capital of the nation a suitable monument to his memory.

[5] The sculptor chosen for Jones' statue was Charles H. Niehaus, whose other well-known works include the Samuel Hahnemann Monument in Washington, D.C., the statue of James A. Garfield in Cincinnati, the Apotheosis of St. Louis in St. Louis, and numerous works in the National Statuary Hall Collection and the Connecticut State Capitol.

[10] John Grignolai was selected to carve the ornamentations on the memorial's pedestal and the Gorham Manufacturing Company casts the statue.

[8] The day of the dedication ceremony, April 17, 1912, was rainy, yet thousands of people stood in the rain to watch the procession and unveiling.

Navy Secretary George von Lengerke Meyer presided over the event and spoke during the dedication introduction, followed by Reverend Charles Wood giving the invocation.

He called Jones a "rugged sailor, and yet a polished courtier" who could "tread the ballroom floor as gracefully as the bloody deck of the frigates.

The contingent, led by grand marshal Brigadier General Robert K. Evans, included midshipmen, Marines, and seamen.

The statue is one of fourteen American Revolution Statuary that was collectively listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on July 14, 1978, and added to the DCIHS on March 3, 1979.

There are three steps on the north and south faces of the memorial, each side featuring carved dolphins spouting water into a basin.