His swashbuckling exploits are fabled on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet for centuries, the fate of John Paul Jones, the Scots naval hero, has remained a mystery.

New research has now revealed the Dumfriesshire-born founder of the American navy died from kidney disease caused by an infection, not “dropsy of the chest”, or fluid in the lungs, as was previously thought.

The finding, by one of America’s leading nephrologists, based on an autopsy and contemporary medical records, has finally closed an important chapter in the history of the American revolution.

Jones, who was born near the village of Kirkbean and moved to America in 1773, is honoured as a hero in America after carrying out a series of daring raids on the British mainland during the war of independence.

He led attacks on Whitehaven in Cumbria, and Kirkcudbright in Dumfriesshire in 1778, and the following year sailed up the Firth of Forth to within cannon range of Leith, before a storm swept his ship back to sea.

He went on to achieve a historic victory for the Russian fleet under the empress Catherine the Great, defeating the Turks during the Black Sea campaign, before moving to Paris, where he died in 1792, aged 45.

Since he was found lying face-down on his bed in his third-floor apartment in Rue de Tournon, why he died has been the subject of speculation. The cause of death was originally recorded in 1792 as “dropsy of the chest”.

However, Dr Matthew Weir, professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and head of nephrology at the university’s medical centre, believes Jones was killed by progressive kidney disease caused by a viral or bacterial infection.

He has based his conclusion on contemporary accounts of Jones’s health and an autopsy carried out more than a century after his death. Fortunately, the naval hero’s body was preserved in alcohol before he was buried, allowing pathologists to carry out a detailed post mortem so many years after his death, Jones’s illness started at the age of 26 and his condition worsened rapidly. He is said to have suffered from severe fevers and mood swings and to have been almost blind by the age of 33. Three years before his death, he was described as having yellow skin. He also struggled to breathe and had a persistent cough.

“You name it, he had a lot going on as a young man,” said Weir, who ruled out a number of possible explanations for his poor health, including lead poisoning, auto-immune disorders, and tuberculosis.

“John Paul Jones developed end-stage kidney failure as a result of viral or bacterial infection, which stimulated the development of a form of progressive glomerulonephritis [a disease characterised by the inflammation of the small blood vessels in the kidneys].

“The interstitial nephritis [inflammation of the kidneys] was the end result of this progressive disease. He also had pneumonia, an incidental finding not likely related to his kidney disease.”

The findings were presented in Baltimore last week at an annual conference devoted to uncovering the cause of death of historical figures.

Jones’s most famous victory was in action against HMS Serapis off the Yorkshire coast in 1779. Even though his ship had been crippled, Jones refused to surrender, and when he was asked by the British ship’s captain whether he was ready to strike the colours, he is said to have replied: “I have not yet begun to fight.”

Sharpshooters aboard his ship, the Bon Homme Richard, raked the Serapis with gunfire until the British surrendered. The following day, Jones’s ship sank and he sailed to safety on a British vessel.

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