Ira Riklis goes on to tell us that after the United States turned over the Serapis to the French, the French in turn commissioned the Serapis to a privateer named Roche. The ship did not see much action thereafter and eventually sunk off the coast of Madagascar in 1781 when a sailor accidentally dropped a lantern into a tub of brandy which set the ship on fire. This caused the powder magazine to explode. The remains of the Serapis were located in 1999 by American nautical archaeologists.
Ira Riklis mentions that the Serapis did not have a distinguished career, but that the Lydia did indeed distinguish itself in combat (fictional, of course). Hornblower sails the Lydia around Tierra Del Fuego to the Pacific coast of Central America. There Hornblower and his crew first capture then sink a ship with double the strength of the Lydia in both guns and men. Then, the Lydia’s mission in the Pacific complete, the Lydia and crew sail safely home to England.
The model of the “Lydia” stands proudly in a display case in the main foyer of the COPS Monitoring offices. Additionally there is an engraving based on the painting “Action Between the Serapis and Bonhomme Richard” by Richard Paton published in 1780. Also noteworthy is the John Paul Jones Monument in Washington D.C.