The Pirate Ship 1660-1730
CONTENTS
AHOUS KONSTAM halls fT'om the Orkney Islends end Is the euthor of over 2.0 books f...
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The Pirate Ship 1660-1730
CONTENTS
AHOUS KONSTAM halls fT'om the Orkney Islends end Is the euthor of over 2.0 books for Oepn!»,. Formerly the Curetor of Weepone In the Royel ~ettheTow... of London., he elso served . . the aw.f eur.tor of the Mel Ather Merttime ~ in Key' W. .t,
Aorida. His Ift8fftime tmMi too"
0t9NY Indude
EUUI &7:
PiretH 1880-730. El/W &9:: .. _ . ~ 1620-1100 end EIIW 70: ElIzabethan
s.. ~
1580-1&05. Angus II¥es in London, wftMe he combl.- e
,......nce museum consultanc»' buel_ with e career es e hlstorlen end writer.
TONY BRYAN Is .freelence Illustl1ltor of rnsny »,Mlnl eKp8r'4eno::e. He Initially ctUBllfIed In ErtglrMMH'lng end -'wei for e number of :r..In millte'l' ..-T.:h end 0..eI0flll1le"t, end " " e keen
intetest; In mWtary hantw-. _ . smell enns, 8ircnIft
Tony " - produced tntions for~· -u, megezlnes end booke.
end "*'»'
---
In the New VlInlJUilrd - - .
INTRODUCTION
3
THE DESIGN OF THE IDEAL PIRATE SHIP
4
THE ORIGINS OF THE PIRATE SHIPS
8
THE CONVERSION OF A PRIZE
12
SMALL PIRATE VESSELS
15
PIRATE FLAGSHIPS
21
THE PIRATE SHIP IN ACTION
34
GLOSSARY
38
BIBLIOGRAPHY
41
COLOUR PLATE COMMENTARY
44
INDEX
48
•
New Vanguard. 70
The Pirate Ship 1660-1730
Angus Konstam . Illustrated by Tony Bryan
OSPREY PUBLISHING
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THE PIRATE SHIP
1660-1730
INTRODUCTION n 1718, Edward Teach (or 'Teach', otherwise known as 'Blackbeard') and his group of pirates held the Atlantic seaboard off the Carolinas to ransom for several months, dcf'ying all comers. One of his \;ctims was Caplain Robert Clark of the BI;tish merchanL ship Crawley: Clark """iltched as three seemingly innocenl sloops and a square-rigged merchantman l)'ing ofT lhe elllrance lO Cbarlesloll Harbor ranged alongside his vessel, and Lhen boarded it. Blackbeard wenL on lO blockade Charleston for the best part of lWO weeks, capturing at least eight vessels. Why was Blackbeard able lO dominate lhesn 01 ttMo ,loop. no.
1
11
,
t~~."':j _.-.1. _ _
....-;;/ --,---.. - ,......
-~...,-_
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...
~,
two
klentlfted by her
~uarw-rigged
'-t
...... 'Ind • gaff,....- NIiI on .,... nwlnmnt. TheM c,.tt were UMd by C.ri~n pl... t_ during the 'golden ave', but we... moN commonly .HOCllted wIth ttle
bl.Ic.clneers of the 17th century, I link whk:h ml)' wgge,t the otIgl_ of her _me - .. e
tNteInd" ¥eIMI. from
~ng
~ ~
M:lpsoe
(P.m, 1722). ($tl'lltford AtctWe)
probably impossible, but fresh gun ports cut in the upper deck in place of any forecastle or after deck plalfonns provided space for additional annamenL One funher advantage of removing the quarterdeck and roundhouse if presem was lhal this allowed guns 10 be moun led as bow or stem chasers. FinaJly, reports of caplured pirate \'essels indicale lhat in some cases, lhe rig of the \'essel was altered. If lhe pirates disliked lhe rig of a particular vessel, they would change it, in an efforl to increase speed, and where possible, 10 provide eXIra space. nlis com'Crsion work might invoh'C lhe replacemem of laleen yards with square-rigged ones, lhe removal of lhe mizzen mast (the mast aft of lhe mainmast), and even the stepping of the mainmasl aft slightly, to impro\Oe lhe performance of lhe ship. For example, brigs and sno\\-'S were both mercantile versions of the brigantine, bUl with gaff-rigged mainsails, It appears several pirales preferred the more conventional square-rigged bligantine, so lhey would have convened plizes 10 suit their reqlliremenlS. Certainly the procurement of materials to undertake these com'el"Sions was never much of a problem. Johnson describes the haul made b)' Banholomew Roberts' men when lhC)· captured lhe Samuel of london: 'They carried with lhem sails, guns, powder and cordage, and 8,000 or 9,000 pounds of the choicest goods.'
SMALL PIRATE VESSELS We ha\'e already nOled lhalthc majority of pirates began their careers in small craft. E\'cn if lhey lacked a proper sailing vessel such as a sloop or a bligantine, lhis type of ship WdS their firsl real slepping Slone, allo....i ng lhe pirales to sail wherever Ihey wan led, and even 10 undertake transat, lantic \"Oyages if need be. For lhose pirales ....rithout a suitable \·essel, they had to use whalever-craft was a\'3.i1able in order to steal something bener. Of the smaller craft found in the .....a ters of lhe Americas during lhe buccaneering era, lhe 'pinnace', lhe 'oorca longa', the 'ny-boat' and lhe 'pcriagua' were lhe most common. Many of Ihese had been in use in Caribbean watcrs since lhc 16lh cenlLlry, The tenn 'pinnace' had lwO different meanings. The firSI referred 10 a small, narrow-beamed, openlopped ship's boat wilh a single mast, of less lhan 60 Ions burden. Confusingly, Ihc lenn 'pinnace' also applied to larger vessels, of 40-80 Ions, which .....ere independclll vessels in their own right, nOllhe lenders
15
• of larger craft. This definition was later expanded to incorporate a three-mast \'cssci with its 0\','11 armament, displacing 200 tons or more. Clearly lhe lcnninology meant different things to different people, and lhese definitions ",'cre prone to evoke \\'ith lime. Originally, the term 'pinnace' referred 10 the oared longboat of a larger ship, fiued with a single mast and rigged with a single lateen or gafT-sail.
I
Typically. these measured
..
less than 35ft in length, and served as the lender to large merchanunen or warships. Although maritime historians still disagree on its exact definition, lhe teml 'shallop' most probably also referred to similar lenders, but these craft were usually (but not exclusively) fiued with square sails. The Spanish equivalent of these smaller vessels "'as the barea ]onga. a vessel that carned a singlc square s.'lil, rather like a shallop. The Dutch equivalelll was the 'pingue', a term which applied to small trading vessels which plied the waters of the Caribbean during the 17th century, and which could displace as much as 80 tons. All these small craft were used as raiding vessels by buccaneers during the lale-17lh century, and were often lOwed behind larger craIt, ready for use as assault craft. The other definition of a pinnace refers to independcnt vcssels of anYlhing from 40-200 lons displacement. These could have any number of masts, but b)' the buccaneering period, three-mast pinnaces were commonplace. These craft carried a variety of sails, but usually these included a combination ofsqllare and lateen rigs. The annamenl of one of these larger pinnaces could range from 8 lO 20 guns. During the late-17th celllury, buccaneers such as Sir Henry Morg"".m used thcse larger pinnaces as the mainstay of their fleets, although thcse sqlladl'Ons usually formed around a handful of larger, bettcr anned square-rigged sailing ships. A variam was the 'fl)'-boat', a term originally associated with the Dutch merchant vessel '(]uyt'. By the latc-17th century, the lerm 'fl)'-boat' had come lO signify a slllall rounded vessel, used as a small coastal trader, blll equally valuable as a convertcd warship. A Spanish vcrsion of lhis craft was the 'balandra'. Both were lIsed extensively as coastal patrol craft, scouting vessels, troop carriers and even as small warships 01; ....d iders. Al the bouom of the maritime ladder in the 17th century Caribbean was the canoe used by the indigenous peoples of the region. InC\itably these boats were used by buccaneers, and varied in size from crafl capable of calT)ing less than four men to thc 'periagua', a large canoe fitted ....i th a mast, ordnance and scnred by a sizeablc crew.
A"",," of h
ulb of s
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no. ""_ derIvH from ttM Anoblc t.mIda (eo-RaJ _ I ) ,
soo ttl. bost w. . sssocl.tttd with ttl. Barbsry pl..t . . of ttl_
Western MeclIt..,..ne." during ttM 17ttl century, ...cI wtth Red s.. pl..ws durlng ttM eM1y-t8tn cetltul'y.
She eat'r'Ittd • Ieteen-
rigged .... on both '""" mainmast and f-.n.,t_~
giving '""" • dlstlnctlv. sp~..nc_. TheM v.nels we,. also Cllpeb!e of ope..tlng under 011... (Strsttord
ArctWveI
By the last decade of the 17th century, the tenus 'pinnace', 'bal"ca longa' and '11)'-boat' had fallen into obscurity. Although there was no sudden change in the appcar"mce of the crafl which plied the walers of the Americas, a new sclies of tenus had come illlo being. Small merchant 1hips were now cJassHied more by lheir sail plan and number of masts lhan by hull shape 01" purpose. Before we continue, it is imporlallllO define the basic fonns of small craft that operated during tJle 'golden age' of pimcy. A 'sloop' was a small \'essel \\-ith a single mast, rigged ....ith a fore-and-aft rigged mainsail and jib foresail. A 'brigantine' was a two-mast \"(~ssel ....i th a square-rigged fores....il, a fore-and-aft rigged mainsail, and square-rigged topsails on both masts. In addition she carried jib sheets attached to her bo.....sprit. A variant of the brigantine was the 'brig', which carried square-rigged lowcr sails on both masts, and a fore-and-aft sail, which in lurn WolS relaled to the 'snow'. An anal)'Sis of pirate auacks between 1710 and 1730 (the 'goldcn agc') in American walers shows lh,ll over half of those recorded werc conducted by sloops (Cordingl)', 1995). The m~ority of lhe remainder were carncd out by square-rigged ships, such as Bartholomcw Robc::rts' Royal F&rtun~ At the bottom of the list, one attack in eight was madc b)' a brigmHine, brig or snow, while a mere handful of auacks were conductcd b)' pirales in open boats such as ships' longboats. HowC\'er impressh'c tJle piralc nagships of Roberts and Teach might havc been, the)' wcre less successful than sloops. In part, lhis bald statistical anal)'sis hides some important faclS. Firsl, the success of individual piralcs such .as Bartholome..... Roberts.....'ho captured O\'er 200 prizes, clouds the statistics, as vessel for vessel his scries of square-rigged nagships ....'ere far more effecti\·c than a host of smaller CrafL Also, pirates such as Teach and Roberts opcralcd in squadrons of se\'cral vessels, and the smaller
A 'poleeN' I_lao known _•• 'po!8CC81 w •• _ Soqu.re--rigged
Mtodlt.,...,....n C"," with two or thrM m8.ta, • l_tlMln-rigged ..il on tM ' - t _net SoqUBre-riggM ..... on tM 8ft mots.
Used by tM FNndI n8'I)' . . ~ in both tM Me6~ , . _ 8flCl tM C8ribboNn, po68cru, MIte this _UII1pte from 111', _ _ 8lso used In
t'- FI1Iftdl
~
cItiona of tM
.....
"''''17th ~
A~wttn"t~
.... ttInMIghout w.. known . . • 'b8tc8'. (StratfonI An:hlYe)
17
• N.utkal nomenc:l.ture during thl, IMrtod w•• extremely confusl"9. Althou;h described ••• 'HrciI ~' (the Spttnl.h eqvlYeient of • pfnnace), English bI.Ic-.n CIlIIed the. . _ I ,
'bIIrquotS' (Of" ·N....'. By the t 8th century, • Nrque referred apecme.11y to • _ " , th~ _ t _I, wtth • ..........,. on . . mizzen mast. (Stratford Arc.......'
18
sloops in the force would be sent ahead to intercept merchanunen, knowing that the larger pil'3te flagship was near enough to support them if they encoulllered any heavy resistance. That said, it is clear that \'eSSeI-for-\'eSSeI, the sloop W.1S the most important type of pil'3te ship of the period, as almost all pirates began their careers in this type of vessel. To modem sailors, the term 'sloop' refers to a sailing vessel with a fore-and-aft rig carried on a single mast. This usually takes the form of a mainsail and a single foresail jib. During the 'golden age', the term was less clearly defined, and it was used to refer to a variety of \'essels, with a selection of different rigs. Sloops appeared in naval service from the mid-17th century, one of the first being a prize captured from the privateering port of Dunkirk by the Commonwealth Navy. With a keel length of 40ft and a beam ofjust o\'er 12ft, she WdS one of the smallest independent warships in service. This vessel, and other naV"d.1 sloops of the late-17th century carried a minimal armament of four guns. Interestingly, the English also used the term 'sloop' in reference to small, two-mast vessels, with a square-rigged mainsail and topsail. Some naval sloops were three-masted. The plans of HMS /o"'errtt, a naYdl sloop of 1711, still survive and serve as an indication of what the larger sloops of this period looked like (Cordingly, 1995). She had a 50ft keel, a 65ft-long open deck, a beam of just under 21ft and a depth in the hold (draft) of 9ft. With a displaet:ment of approximately liS tons, she WdS large enough to support an annament of 10-12 guns. In addition, a series of eight oarports were cut in her hull below the line of her gun ports, enabling her to use oars when she was becalmed. Although it is unclear whether she was fiued with one or twO masts, the lauer is more likely, as naYd.1 sloops built five years later werc twin-mast types. While we have a rough idea of what naval sloops looked like, the appearance of pirate sloops is more problematic. Although no plans of merchant sloops of the period have sunrived, we can U)' to reconstruct the appearance of these craft from a combination of pictorial evidence and mid-18th century plans, compiled in Frederick Henry Chapman's Arrhiurlura Navalis M~tUoria. We know that sloops built in Jamaica and Bermuda were panicularly
•
A Frenctl ....... 'hlp of
~
w_
mid-18th cerotury. $lavers macM u-d pl.., • .nIP" •• they
built for speed. The cent",1 PfIrtltion on the ve.se1 wa. d...!tned to protect the crew In the event of. ,leYI uprising.
(ely" Hens''')' Collectlonl
prized for their speed during this period. The Jamaican \'cssel, developed from lhe fast pinnaces of the previous cenulll'. was built of red cedar and was recognisable by ils low freeboard and steeply mked mast. Similar fast sloops were built in Bermuda, and Chapman provides p];lIlS for a vessel of mis type. The sloop shown by Chapman is 60ft long (with a 45ft keel), and has a beam of 16ft, making her smaller and narrower than her naval counterparl. This sloop also can"jed a single mast, filted at a rakish angle of approximately 12 degrees from the perpendicular, sloping aft. She is filted with a long bowsprit, angled upwards al 20 degrees from the horizontal. Judging from lhe yards depicled, her rig consisled of a gaffrigged fore-and-aft spanker, a square-rigged tops:.lil, and probably one or twO foresail jibs. The upper and lower booms of lhe dliver arc almost :'IS long ,IS the sloop ilSelf, meaning thal she carried a lal'ge amoutll of sail compared to her size and displacement (which has been estimated at around g!)-IOO tons). Lik.e the FtrI?t, Chapman's Bcnnuda sloop was pierced to carry 12 guns. Despite an upwards slope lowards lhe stem, the \'csscl is Oush-decked, with no break for a quarterdeck. This depiction ties in perfectly with three rare depictions of colonial American sloops of the early-18th century. An cngra\ing showing New York Harbor produced by William Burgis in 1717 shows the small sloop Fancy, a vessel lhal sen'cd as a priv.lte yacht (see p.44). Uke many of the
19
•
20
othe.· sloops in the engraving, the Fancy is shown with a single mast, and a sail plan that follows the one outlined by Chapman in his mid18th century study. An interesting touch is her roundhouse, a (un'cd sheller covering the rear of her quarterdeck. An engraving by William Burgis dated 1717 shows a sloop anchored off Boston Lighthouse (see 1'.13). Although well anned, with seven gun ports per side, she represents a merchant "essel, rather than a wa~hip. This is supported by cOntemporAry accounts referring to the increased sale of small guns to merchant ship O\\11crs in the early-18th century. as threats from both privateers and piratcs encouraged the increased armament of merchalll ''eSSeIs. A third engnl\;ng of the port of Charleston, South Carolina, shows a range of shipping in the foreground, including sc~..era1 sloops. These are all single-mast, but only one is sho"'11 caIT);ng a square-sail y.trd on her topmasL Although we cannot be certain as lO lhe appearance of pirate sloops, the similarily of these depictions to lile Chapman drawings and lhe Fnrd. plans provide us with a more accurate piclure of lheir appearance than we could reasonably hope for, gi\<en the paucilY of precise information lhal has sur.;ved. Brigantines are slightly more straightfon\'ard. We have several conlemporary descriptions of these vessels, and their rig continued unchanged for a century after lhe 'golden age', Again, Chapman provides a series of plans that aid our understanding of what lhese ships looked like, and how they sailed. Whatcvcr the term brigantine had meant before 1690, by the start of lhe 'golden age' of pimcy it had come lO mean a square-.sailed I'ig on a foremasl, and a fore-and·afl rig and square-sail rig combined on the mainmast. The lenu was abbrevialed lO 'brig' by the middle of lile 18lil cenlury, but by that time this tenn referred to a vessel with a fore-and·aft rigged spanker, no square-
"""'" I'B~
-----
Bart'), 1ft Whydah, CNl
tIM W-t Ahkan cont, 172.2.
BehInd him his p1rift40 ~Ip' tIM Royal Fonu". Is ahoWn entef1"'l1 , ~stlNd, toIloWint tIM 0I'Nt R.",.,. In tIM bKkfIround e neel: of enchontd ....... 8Nps _aft thefr hit•• (Stnotford Arch'")
TIM plrlte CMM' v.". eveded ju.tk:e w,"," Go-.- WOops Henry (8 guns and 70 men). and sea Nymph (eight guns and 60 men). Borvwrt had ten guns and 40 men at his disposal.
On 26 september Rhett reached the mouth of the Cape
FeaI" River, but both ships ran aground on sandbars lying across the mouth. He could see the mast of the Royal James above the trees further upstream, He hoped the rising tide would free his ships. Two pirate longboats llCOUIed the two ships, then huTied back with the news that they were warships. As dawn approached, Bonnet ran downstream, in an attempt to run past the warships. but he found Rhett's sloops had freed themselves. In an attempt to avoid their guns he hugged the shore, but ran aground in the shallows. Both warships closed in, but they too ran aground, the sea Nymph some 400 yards away (and facing towards Bonnel) while the Henry grounded within 70 yards of the pirates, broadside on to them. Bonnet's ship was angled with her hull facing the enemy, and her deck protected by her hull, Rhett's ship had Its upper deck angled towards the pirate, so was more exposed. Both captains fired at each other lor the next hour or so. The tide was flooding, and both sides knew thaI whichever ship freed herseII first would have their opponents at their mercy. 1he Henry was closer 10 the middle 01 the channel. and was lifted clear of the bottom, She closed with her opponent, sailing downstmam then turning inshonl 10 deliver raking fire across the pirate's ~. Bonnet surrtlI'ldefed, and he and his surviving crew were taken to Chatleslon 10 stand trial. Four were acquitted, but 80Met ancIthe nwnainder were eventuaIy hung.
c:
THE ADVENTURE GALLEY, 1698
(WILLIAM KIDD) An experienced privateering captain, Winiam Kidd was
• same London shipyard. The oars (sweeps) would be stowed in the hold when not in use, and the oat-holes sealed.
I
This well-armed ftU)'t of the ~t.. 17th ~bIrY .. ~ for 18 guns, _ Indlcatlon of the ttvut poNd by pl... tu to merftm. tr.oe In the ~ '"'- *",lIow draught of tneH rMde ....... well suited for tr.o. w!ttl _ I I CaI1bbNn porta, and Ideal . . ~ ~ - . . . . . capable of canylng 150 w...·armed men .~. fCIycM ~ CoI.... tionl
selected by a consortium of rich but anonymous badilff
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