Posted by Under The Black Flag on 10:51 π.μ.
Robert Surcouf (12December 1773–8 July 1827) was a famous French corsair. During hislegendary career, he captured 47 ships and was renowned for his gallantry andchivalry, earning the nickname of Roi des Corsaires ("King ofCorsairs").Robert Surcouf was born12 December 1773 in Saint-Malo, afortified town in Brittany,traditionally a corsair stronghold. He attended a religious school and waseducated by the Jesuits. At 13, heescaped his teachers and stole a small craft to prove his ability to sail; hewas subsequently caught in a tempest and had to be rescued.At age 15, he enlistedon a merchantman to India.In 1792 he came back toSaint-Malo and discovered...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 11:48 π.μ.
The William May was a buccaneer prior to becoming a privateer during the Nine Years' War (1688- 1697). May was hunting with William Kidd on Kidd's ship the Blessed William in 1689. In 1690, the crew stole the ship from Kidd and May became captain. May went to New York where he attacked French ships in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. One of the prizes May renamed the Jacob, keeping her as his flagship.In December 1690, May went to Madagascar then hunted off western India. In July 1693, May was commissioned to raid French slave stations in West Africa. May commanded the 16 gun ship the Pearl. Instead...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 9:52 π.μ.
Sea Fever I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 10:24 μ.μ.
Simonson was born in Dordrecht, Holland. Simonson moved around 1606 from Marseilles to Algiers, with experience as a shipbuilder, leaving his family behind. At Algiers, Simonson's fame quickly grew and within 3 years he was given the name Delli Reis by the locals. Simonson had been using captured ships and was teaching the Muslim captains how to sail them. He personally captured around 40 prizes all of which were incorporated into the corsair fleet. Simonson had also led the corsairs through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic. Once in the Atlantic, they hunted Spanish treasure fleets and raided as far north as Iceland. After reeking much...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 7:33 π.μ.
In 1692 Ralph Stout was arrested in India while serving with James Kelley. The prisoners escaped 4 years later after stealing a boat. They made their way to Bombay and upon arriving they enlisted with Captain Edgecumbe aboard his ship the Mocha, an East Indiaman. Eight days after leaving port, Stout and other members of the crew seized the Mocha. Twenty-Seven of the crew escaped, reaching shore in the ship's boat. Captain Edgecumbe, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. He was bludgeoned to death with broken bottles and thrown to the sharks. The pirate's reward was £ 19,000 found aboard the ship. The crew elected Stout as their new captain.Stout...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 4:13 μ.μ.
The Frenchman Pierre Le Grand was the first pirate to settle on Tortuga Island. Le Grand and 28 men captured the flagship (a galleon) of the Spanish treasure fleet off Cape Tiburon in western Hispaniola.Le Grand spotted ship a lagging behind the Spanish Fleet and although he and his men numbered only 29, they swore an oath to fight to the death. To strengthen their resolve, Le Grand bore a hole in the bottom of their his ship, giving them no choice but to attack and win, for now they had no means of escape. Fortunately it was getting dark, they sailed alongside and snuck on board, cutlass in...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 12:45 μ.μ.
Richard Worley set out from New York with eight others in a small open boat; they were ill equipped and carried few supplies. The crew set out in late September 1718. Their ship was hardly seaworthy so they set out down the coast and up the Delaware River where they captured a boat laden with household goods (this was not constituted as piracy, but rather burglary since it did not take place upon the sea). The next prize taken by these men was more in keeping with their needs, a sloop out of Philadelphia. They took the sloop and increased the size of their band to 12. Within a couple more days they...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 2:07 μ.μ.
Phillips comes to light in the Golden Age of Piracy on the 19th of April 1721. It was on this day that the ship he traveled on to Newfoundland was taken by the pirate Anstis in the brigantine, Good Fortune. Phillips seems to have joined with the pirates and was appointed ship's carpenter. He stayed with Anstis until the crew broke up at Tobago, and sailed to England. He remained in England until he caught word of some of his past compatriots imprisoned in the Bristol Goal. Fearing that he might be found out, he shipped himself on a ship bound for Newfoundland.Biding his time he and others seized a ship...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 11:30 π.μ.
Con diez cañones por banda,viento en popa, a toda vela, no corta el mar, sino vuelaun velero bergantín. Bajel pirata que llaman, por su bravura, el Temido, en todo mar conocidodel uno al otro confín. The breeze fair aft, all sails on high, Ten guns on each side mounted seen, She does not cut the sea, but fly, A swiftly sailing brigantine; A pirate bark, the "Dreaded" named, For her surpassing boldness famed, On every sea well-known and shore, From side to side their boundaries o'er. La luna en el mar rïela, en la lona gime el viento, y alza en blando movimientoolas de plata y azul; y va el capitán pirata, cantando alegre en la popa,...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 12:22 μ.μ.
Lawrence Prince was born in Amsterdam. In 1670, he sailed from Port Royal, Jamaica to Colombia. He had plans to take the town of Mompos which was over 150 miles inland, part of the trip was up the Magdalena River. Upon their arrival they found a new fort on an island river. The pirates were drove back with cannon fire. Prince was determined not to return to Port Royal empty handed. In August he sailed for Nicaragua and was successful in an almost indentical scheme. He sailed up the San Juan River, captured the fort and took canoes up to Lake Nicaragua where they pillaged the city of Granada.The...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 10:58 π.μ.
Spain, a long time victim of pirating, suffering heavy losses from the pirates and deciding that Sir Henry Morgan's Portobelo raid in 1669 was the last straw, sanctioned the governors of its colonies in the procurement of privateers and disbursement of ''Letters of Marque''. Few pirates responded to this act, but Rivero, who was Portuguese, did and rushed out to seek enemy nation's ships to prey upon. In 1670, Rivero, in command of the San Pedro left Cartagena for Jamaica but but was forced to change course because of winds. Rivero sacked the poor settlement on Grand Cayman Island and seized two...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 12:25 μ.μ.
Piet Heyn was a Dutch Privateer who haunted the seas around 1620s. He was considered a pirate by the Spaniards. "Buena Guerra! GoodWar!" was the battle cry of the Dutch Privateers or Zeerovers. Piet Heyn was a terror to the Spanish Main particularly around the island of Cuba. Heyn started out as a Dutch privateer of little consequence but after being captured by the Spaniards and enslaved in a ship's galley things changed. He was eventually freed in a prisoner exchange and took on duties as a captain of privateering ship.Heyn was involved in several raids, Dutch West India Company Raid on ...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 11:56 π.μ.
John Coxon was one of the most famous "Brethren of the Coast". We pick up the story of John Coxon around 1677, when, in the company of other English Buccaneers, he was involved in the surprise attack and plunder of the town of Santa Marta on the Spanish Main. Coxon was actually responsible for the kidnapping of Santa Marta's Governor and Bishop.A couple years later, Coxon met up with several other Privateers in Jamaica for the eventual raid in the Gulf of Honduras. This raid was a quite successful. Within the same year, Coxon and his crew joined forces with such noteworthy companions as Sharp and...
