They have begun the fight

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- It is a burial place fit for a king -- an ornate marble sarcophagus, decked in bronze, sitting in the center of an underground tomb.

But the crypt of John Paul Jones, beneath the Naval Academy chapel in Annapolis, has not always been given the royal treatment.

Since 1913, when the Revolutionary War naval hero was laid in the crypt, thousands of tourists have walked its marble floors, dragging in dust. Curious schoolchildren have run their hands along its smooth marble walls, leaving behind dirt and wads of chewing gum. Uncontrolled humidity has corroded the bronze dolphins and sea plants decorating the sarcophagus, turning them the color of moss.

Just when it seemed the crypt would continue to suffer at the hands of time, the academy's class of 1955 stepped in with a generous gift: funds for the first large-scale renovation of the site since its construction.

Begun this month, the two-phase project, scheduled for completion next fall, will cost about $700,000. The first phase will install a new climate-control system and modern lighting. The second will clean the crypt.

''We're here to make sure [Jones] is comfortable -- not too hot, not too cold -- and has enough light to read at night," Lewis Meadows Jr., a supervisor with the contractor, C&C Construction of Newport News, Va., said with a chuckle.

On a recent afternoon, Meadows and his crew had turned the typically quiet crypt into a busy construction site.

Workers had torn a circular hole in the ceiling to install the new central air and heating systems. During this part of the project, which will last until January, the crypt will be closed to the public.

Although they will keep the blue-colored lights that illuminate the 21-ton coffin, giving it an undersea look, workers will install additional lights above and below it.

The second phase of the project, for which the academy has not yet awarded a contract, will be a thorough cleaning of the sarcophagus and the many artifacts on display in glass cases lining the crypt.

Often called the Father of the Navy, Jones was born in Scotland but immigrated to America at 26. When the American Revolution began in 1775, Jones, already a skilled sailor, became the captain of the Continental Navy's sloop of war, the Providence, the following year.

He went on to win several fierce sea battles with the British, including his most famous as captain of the frigate Bonhomme Richard.

When the captain of the British frigate Serapis demanded of Jones, whose vessel was battered and beginning to sink, whether he were striking his colors, Jones retorted, ''I have not yet begun to fight," and succeeded in boarding and capturing the British vessel.

Despite his heroic status, Jones died in relative obscurity in Paris in 1792 and was buried in an anonymous grave in St. Louis Cemetery there.

Four years later, the French government sold the cemetery, and a house was built over Jones's burial site.

It was not until 1905, after a six-year search, that Horace Porter, the American ambassador to France, discovered Jones's remains. When Porter opened Jones's casket, he found the body of the commander perfectly preserved and wearing a hat with the letters JP on it.

With the help of President Theodore Roosevelt, Porter arranged for Jones's remains to be taken by ship to the Naval Academy, where he was reinterred in the crypt in 1913.