![]() ![]() When they did launch targeted expeditions, these were generally aimed at medicines, and equipment for repairs. Pirates would not have had the time or resources to chase after storied treasure. Ships carrying spices, textiles and timber were preferred, because these goods could be sold easily and at high prices. Other common flags included an all-black standard and an all-red one. The black standard with the skull and crossbones in white became a symbol of terror. ![]() The main vessels were typically ringed with cannons smaller boats would be used to surround a target vessel. They intimidated and overthrew the crew of larger ships using brute force: pirate-ship crews were typically massive and well-armed. They typically used Spanish sloops or schooners, which were faster and easier to manoeuvre in both deep and shallow waters. Pirates preferred small, agile ships over large ones. Ching Shih sailed the seas during the Qing Dynasty, taking the wheel after the death of her husband Zheng Yi, in 1807. In the South China Sea, there are records of a woman captaining a pirate ship. Mary Read is said to have disguised herself as a man to find work as a sailor and eventually joined the vessel captained by Calico Jack. Anne Bonny was believed to be the companion of Jack Rackham aka Calico Jack they sailed and looted together in the early 1700s. There are a few women pirates in the historical record too. Marcus Rediker, historian and author of The Slave Ship: A Human History (2007), drawn from years of research into maritime archives, court records, diaries and first-hand accounts, found that almost a third of the crew across 15 vessels he researched were black, he told NPR in an interview. When slave ships were raided, the raiding crew typically gave the fittest among them a chance to join the new dispensation. Pirate crews did tend to be a closely bonded ragtag bunch of people from across seas. He was arrested in 1699, tried, and hanged in public in 1701. By 1697, he had begun attacking ships himself. Some of those turned pirates too.Ĭaptain Kidd (William Kidd), for instance, was a Scottish privateer commissioned in 1695 to apprehend brigands in the Indian Ocean. Major trading powers such as England enacted new laws to crack down on this activity, and carried out public trials and executions.Īs countries began to crack down on piracy, a new brand of mercenaries took to the seas, sent on royal commissions to apprehend these criminals. They focused on regions with the most marine traffic: the Caribbean and West African coasts, and the Indian Ocean. Originally commissioned to raid enemy ships during this unrest, they found themselves unemployed when it ended, and began to conduct raids of their own. Some had operated during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), which began as a conflict over the successor to the Spanish throne but blew up into a larger battle for power in Europe. Where did the pirates come from? Many had been soldiers-for-hire (which, incidentally, is where we get the term freelancer), acting as supplementary naval forces for empires seeking to establish a maritime presence. Ships carrying silk, spices and slaves were often targeted. What historians call the Golden Age of Piracy (the mid-17th to early-18th centuries) was marked by brisk marine trade in luxury goods. Was there ever a Jack Sparrow version of this life? How close was reality to either extreme? How did it all begin? Using what were once their fishing boats, they surround larger vessels and, through violence or the threat of it, loot goods or hold crews for ransom. ![]() They’re former fishermen now part of a larger criminal organisation. He and his crew are scrawny, grimy and impoverished. Skinny has sunken eyes and speaks haltingly. This film, starring Tom Hanks, is based on the true story of the 2009 hijacking of an American cargo ship. The real life of the pirate has generally been closer to that of Muse aka Skinny (played by Somali actor Barkhad Abdi), the chief antagonist in Captain Phillips (2013). His life is a rather enviable mix of drinking and carousing, swordfights and ready banter. He often falters but always prevails he is not to be trusted, but only in the most endearing way. Sparrow is dastardly, superstitious, snarky. There have been four more films in the franchise so far. This year marks two decades since Disney released its hugely successful Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, starring Johnny Depp. ![]()
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