About a week after sailing he sighted five merchantmen, several of which were well armed, while all were convoyed by a brig of war.  Jones stood toward them, when the brig signalled to her companions to make all sail before the wind, while she dropped back to attend to the stranger.  The American came up quite close, and hailing, demanded the name of the other.  For a reply, the brig lowered the Spanish colors, ran up the British flag, and let fly with a broadside and volley of musketry.

The Wasp was expecting something of that nature and returned the compliment, the vessels working nearer each other and firing as rapidly as possible.  The action had hardly begun when the Wasp lost her main topmast, and a few minutes later the mizzen topgallant mast and the gaff were shot away.  These mishaps so crippled her that she became almost unmanageable.  The Frolic, as the enemy was named, was also damaged, but not so badly as the Wasp, but, unfortunately for the Frolic, the heavy sea and the twisting about of the hull threw her into position to be raked by the Wasp, and Captain Jones was quick to seize the advantage, the vessels being so close that the ramrods were pushed against each other’s sides while the gunners were loading.  The sea was so heavy that the guns of the Wasp frequently dipped under water.

The intention of the Americans was to board, and Lieutenant James Biddle held himself and men ready to take instant advantage of the moment the roll of the sea brought them near enough to do so.

Captain Jones did not believe himself warranted in boarding, since he held the advantage of position, and he issued orders for the men to wait, but their ardor could not be checked.  Among his sailors was one who had been impressed into the British service, where he was brutally treated.  Springing upon his gun, he grasped the bowsprit of the brig, swung himself upon the spar and ran as nimbly as a monkey to the deck of the enemy.  Imitating his enthusiasm, Lieutenant Biddle and his boarders took advantage of a favorable lurch at that moment and sprang upon the deck of the Frolic.  There, every man stopped and repressed the cheer that rose to his lips, for the scene was one of the most dreadful that imagination can picture.

The quartermaster stood grimly clutching the wheel, a lieutenant, bleeding from several wounds, was leaning against the companionway, unable to stand without its support, while all along the deck were strewn the dead and dying.  Silently the victors stepped over the prostrate forms to the quarter deck, where the officer weakly dropped his sword to signify his surrender.  Lieutenant Biddle walked to where the colors were still fluttering and pulled them down.  A few minutes later the mainmast and foremast fell.

Maclay gives the strength of the two vessels as follows:  Wasp, 18 guns, Frolic, 22; crew of the Wasp, 138, of the Frolic, 110.  On the Wasp 5 were killed and 5 wounded; on the Frolic 15 were killed and 47 wounded, the latter being completely riddled.  The cause of this frightful difference in results was brought about by the Americans discharging their broadsides when their ship was on the downward roll, the shot landing in the hull of the enemy, while the latter fired on the rise, her broadsides mainly passing into and through the rigging.