Kuling the oceans

It is difficult to state when piracy began, but it has probably existed since man conquered the oceans by building boats. During the 1st century BC, the pirate states were well-established along the Anatolian coast, threatening the commerce of the Roman Empire in the eastern Mediterranean. On one voyage across the Aegean Sea in 75 BC., Julius Caesar was kidnapped and briefly held by Cilician pirates and held prisoner in the Dodecanese islet of Pharmacusa for ransom. Pirates were a menace to sea trade and coastal populations along various trade routes. Most were notorious for cruelty to their victims, and some were even used by European powers in their conflicts with rival nations. So, readers, your average pirate was nowhere as charismatic and debonair as Johnny Depp! Pirates are pretty much in the news even now. You may have heard of the Somalian pirates who attack ships and take hostages like the pirates of long ago.

The word ‘pirate’ generally means a seagoing robber’, but there are different types of pirates who still hound ships in this present age. They are, briefly:

Privateers

Governments used to authorize private ship owners to attack their enemies, under a licence called a ‘letter of marque’. The privateer could attack and capture enemy vessels. The profits were split between the government and the privateers. So, in other words, privateers were mercenaries allowed to loot and plunder ships belonging to enemy nations at war. King Henry III of England first issued what later became known as privateering commissions in 1243. These early licences were granted to specific individuals to seize the king’s enemies at sea in return for splitting the proceeds between the privateers and the crown. Licensing privateers during wartime became widespread in Europe by the 16th Century. Seven European nations signed the Paris Declaration of 1856 renouncing privateering, and forty-five more eventually joined them, which in effect abolished privateering worldwide. The United States was not a signatory to that declaration.

Pirates

Privateers were only licensed to attack ships of some countries, but when they could not do it they would attack ships of any foreign nation’s ships, which made them pirates. Some pirates would cover their activities by bribing their government with cash. However, after  doing that many pirates like Captain William Kidd and Henry Jennings started attacking ships of their own country. Captain Kidd was subsequently hanged because he did not share his profits honestly with the British crown. A pirate flag was often referred to as a “Jolly Roger,” which many believe to be an Anglicization of the French jolie rouge, or “pretty red.”

Corsairs

They were pirates operating in the Mediterranean, along the Barbary Coast of North Africa. European governments used to pay them to spare their shipping!

Bucaneers

Escaped slaves from plantations often took to buccaneering. In those days, European governments often used to enslave their own subjects belonging to the lower classes to make the work on plantations. England enslaved so many Irish citizens that the population of the Irish was caught in half! The expected lifespan of a slave on plantation was two years. Escaped slaves gathered in bands along the unpopulated coastal areas. They lived off the land and killed wild animals. They used to smoke the meat by using ‘bucon’ or wooden smoking racks. At times they attacked ships in canoes, and would take to pirating after capturing a ship.

Check out some of the most famous pirates of yesteryears....

Sir Francis Drake

Francis Drake is famous for becoming the first English captain to circumnavigate the globe. But, he is also famous for being called “my pirate” by Queen Elizabeth I. He had the letter of marquee to attack Spanish ships, and after he captured a Spanish vessel full of treasure, he was knighted by the grateful sovereign of England. He later on went on to vanquish the Spanish Armada sent to attack England.

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Francois l’Olonnais

He was a French pirate, who, during his early pirating days was almost killed by Spanish raiders. A vengeful character, he made it his mission to kill Spaniards.  Once, after capturing a Spanish ship, he beheaded all men onboard except one and sent him with this message: “I shall never henceforward give quarter to any Spaniard whatsoever.”

Francois l’Olonnais raised a pirate fleet of eight ships with hundreds of men. He attacked a number of Spanish returning to Spain with treasure.

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Jean Lafitte

Jean Lafitte had an entire pirate island in Louisiana, capturing ships and smuggling stolen goods into New Orleans. He was so successful that when the Governor of Louisiana offered a $300 price for his capture Lafitte responded by offering a $1,000 reward for the capture of the governor.

In 1814, Lafitte was approached by the British with a letter signed by King George III, promising citizenship and landholdings as a reward. He was threatened with reprisals if he refused. Lafitte requested few days to think about the offer, went to the Amercans and warned them that the English were coming.

He was an admirer of America and ordered his entire fleet never to attack an American ship.

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Benjamin Hornigold

Benjamin Hornigold, the mentor of Blackbeard, started his career of piracy in the Bahamas with little more than a few canoes. A few years later, he had a huge 30-gun warship. Hornigold always considered himself a “privateer” rather than a pirate. He refused to attack British ships, but his men didn’t like it. A major part of his crew and ships joined Blackbeard. Horingold was an eccentric character. Once he overtook a merchant ship in Honduras and the only thing he demanded was everyone’s hat. He explained to the puzzled crew that his pirates got drunk and lost their hats the night before!

Hornigold eventually retired as a pirate, and accepted a royal pardon and became a pirate hunter, tasked with chasing his former counterparts.

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Blackbeard (1680 - 1718)

Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard was probably the most infamous pirate of his generation who terrorised the Caribbean Sea from 1716 to 1718. He began as a privateer for Britain during the War of Spanish Succession, and moved on to pirating. A fierce fighter, Blackbeard was as famous for his wild mane of hair. Blackbeard knew how to inspire fear: in battle, he would put smoking fuses in his long black hair and beard. They would cause him to be wreathed in smoke, giving him a demonic appearance. His flag was scary, too: the skeleton spearing the heart meant that no quarter would be given.

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Captain Kidd

Scottish sailor William Kidd was a privateer turned pirate. Initially, he was employed by the British government as a privateer. In 1701 he was hanged by the government for being a pirate.

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Henry Morgan

Known as the “Sword of England,” Henry Morgan was a Welsh privateer who was notorious for terrorizing Caribbean ports in the 1600s.

In the mid 1600s, he turned a pirate. He is also known as one of the few pirates to ever “retire” from activity with few repercussions.

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Calico Jack

John Rackham, also known as Calico Jack, primarily plundered vessels throughout the Caribbean in the early 1700’s. Rackham is mainly remembered for his association with Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two women who disguised themselves as pirates aboard his ship. On the day that he was made captain, he plundered several small vessels, earning him a good reputation with the crew. Once, while drinking in a local tavern, he met a woman named Anne Bonny. He decided to court her, and eventually asked if she would like to come along pirating with them. She agreed and dressed as a man so the crew would take little notice in her.

One day, they raided a small merchant vessel near the West Indies. Most of the crew had been killed and they had one man cornered. They asked if the man would join their crew an offer to which he agreed. The new sailor was, in fact, Mary Read.

After stealing an anchored ship in Nassau harbor, Rackham was caught by Captain Johnathan Barnet. Rackham and 11 members of his crew were sentenced to death. Rackham was hanged, tarred and displayed as a warning to others in a location now called Rackham’s Cay. Bonny and Read, both pregnant, were jailed. Rackham is also remembered for his pirate flag: a black jack that showed a skull over crossed cutlasses. In spite of the fact that other pirates were more successful, his flag has gained fame as “the” pirate flag.

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Barbarossa Brothers

Kherddin Barbarossa was a Turkish privateer who was known around the Mediterranean as Redbeard, a nickname he inherited from his older brother, Baba Oruç. After being appointed as the admiral in chief of the Ottoman Empire in 1533, he conquered Tunisia.

In the 16th century, using North Africa as a base, the Barbarossa brothers attacked multiple coastal towns with their band of Barbary pirates and became some of the region’s most influential men.

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Henry Avery

Henry Avery, a pirate who buccaneered throughout the Caribbean in the late 1600s gained his fame by reportedly retiring with his treasure without being arrested or killed. He only ever captured a dozen ships or so, but one of them was nothing less than the Ganj-i-Sawai, the treasure ship of the Grand Moghiul of India. The capture of that ship  alone puts Long Ben at or near the top of the list of all-time richest pirates.  He disappeared not long after. Avery’s flag showed a skull wearing a kerchief in profile over crossbones.

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Thomas Tew

Born in England, Tew’s family moved to Rhode Island when he was a youth. Tew embarked on only two major piratical voyages, but is famous for pioneering the route which became famous as the Pirate Round. Tew first attack was in the Red Sea, where he ran down a large ship en route from India to the Ottoman Empire, some time in late 1693. The Indian ship surrendered without serious resistance. Tew’s pirates helped themselves to the ship’s rich treasure, worth £100,000 in gold and silver alone, not counting the value of the ivory, spices, jewels and silk taken.

In September, 1695, a 25-ship Mughal convoy approached the Mandab Strait, slipping past the pirates during the night. Tew and his fellow pirates pursued. The Amity overtook one of the Mughal ships, believed to be the Fateh Muhammed, and attacked it. Tew was killed in this battle, reportedly by a cannon shot.

Pirates’ vessels

Schooners were ships with fore and aft sails on at least two masts. Schooners with two masts were known for their speed and maneuverability. They became very popular in the New England area until the late 19th century.

Galleys were mostly propelled by rows and usually had a shallow draft compared to other ships of the time. The main advantage of these ships was their ability to move with or without wind due to their rows.

Sloops are ships with a fore and aft rig in addition to a single mast although some of the larger sloops had two-three masts. The term sloop generally meant a ship smaller than a frigate that carried a smaller amount of cannons.

Galleons were large warships that were extremely expensive to build. These were the types of ships that pirates actively hunted because of their large cargo holds and expensive treasures. Although the rewards of capturing a galleon were high, taking a full broadside from one of these warships could be fatal.

Brigantines are two-masted ships with a foremast that is square rigged and a main mast that has at least a gaff sail and topsail. This boa, known for its speed and maneuverability, was considered superior to schooners and sloops. These ships were bigger than schooners and sloops but smaller than a brig. This ship was a favorite among Mediterranean pirates.

Frigates during the 1700’s generally referred to ships that were as long as a ship of the line but faster and more lightly armed. They had square rigs on all three masts and carried at least 28 cannons on a single deck.

-SK