Portal:Piracy

The Piracy Portal

Topics: Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology

Shortcuts: P:PP P:Piracy

Piracy is a robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on the shore, by an agent without a commission from a sovereign nation. The Golden Age of Piracy occurred mostly in the Caribbean, the American coast, the Indian Ocean, and the western coast of Africa. As British imperialism spread across Europe it brought about many drastic structural changes due to which many sailors and privateers found themselves unemployed. Factors contributing to piracy included the rise in quantities of valuable cargoes being shipped to Europe over vast ocean areas, the weakness of European navies in peacetime, the training and experience that many sailors had gained as conscripts in European navies (particularly the Royal Navy), and the weakness of European government in overseas colonies.

Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US$13 to $16 billion per year), particularly in the waters between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, off the coast of Somalia, and in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, which are used by over 50,000 commercial ships a year. A recent surge in piracy off the Somali coast spurred a multi-national effort led by the United States to patrol the waters near the Horn of Africa to combat piracy. While boats off the coasts of North Africa and the Mediterranean are still assailed by pirates, the Royal Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard have nearly eradicated piracy in U.S. waters and the Caribbean.

More about piracy...

Template:/box-footer

Show new selections below (purge)

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.

Jean Lafitte (ca. 1776 – ca. 1823) was a pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his elder brother, Pierre, spelled their last name Laffite, but English-language documents of the time used "Lafitte," and this is the commonly seen spelling in the United States, including for places named for him. Lafitte is believed to have been born either in France or the French colony of Saint-Domingue. By 1805, he operated a warehouse in New Orleans to help disperse the goods smuggled by his brother Pierre Lafitte. After the United States government passed the Embargo Act of 1807, the Lafittes moved their operations to an island in Barataria Bay. By 1810, their new port was very successful; the Lafittes pursued a successful smuggling operation and also started to engage in piracy.

Though Lafitte tried to warn of a British attack, the American authorities invaded Barataria in 1814 and captured most of Lafitte's fleet. In return for a pardon, Lafitte helped General Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British in 1815. The Lafittes then became spies for the Spanish and moved to Galveston Island where they developed the colony there. Lafitte continued pirating around Central American ports until he died trying to capture Spanish vessels in 1823. Speculation around his death and life continue amongst historians.

More biographies...

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.

The Pirate Round was a sailing route followed by certain Anglo-American pirates, and was most active from about 1693 to 1700 and then again from 1719 to 1721. The course led from the western Atlantic, around the southern tip of Africa, stopping at Madagascar, then on to targets such as the coast of Yemen and India. Pirates who followed the route are sometimes called "Roundsmen" and "Red Sea Men." Some the most famous Roundsmen include Thomas Tew, Henry Every, Edward England, John Taylor, Olivier Levasseur, and Christopher Condent.

The Pirate Round was largely co-extensive with the routes of the East India Company ships, of Britain and other nations. From 1700 to 1718, the Pirate Round went into decline. The end of British participation in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) led to an explosive increase in piracy in the Caribbean, but did not yet revive the Pirate Round. However, in 1718 Woodes Rogers pacified Nassau, while colonial Virginia and South Carolina prosecuted aggressive anti-pirate campaigns, destroying Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, and Richard Worley. Caribbean and Atlantic pirates began to seek safer hunting grounds, leading to a brief resurgence in the Pirate Round that lasted from 1719 to 1721. (more...)

More articles...

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.

“

Come all you brave Boys, whose Courage is bold,
Will you venture with me, I'll glut you with Gold?
Make haste unto Corona, a Ship you will find,
That's called the Fancy, will pleasure your mind.

Captain Every is in her, and calls her his own;
He will box her about, Boys, before he has done:
French, Spaniard and Portuguese, the Heathen likewise,
He has made a War with them until that he dies.

”

— A Copy of Verses, Composed by Captain Henry Every (1696)

Suggest • More quotations...

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.

...that in 2011, pirates were reported as raiding along the Danube River in the center of Europe?

...that there is only one account of walking the plank?

...that English pirate Henry Every, who was sometimes known as Long Ben, was one of the few major pirate captains to retire with his loot without being arrested or killed in battle?

...that red Jolly Roger flags were the most feared of all; all prayed they never encountered the "Bloody Red," which boldly declared that no mercy would be shown and all victims would be killed?

...that in the Golden Age of Piracy, the word "pirate" was often spelled "pyrate" or "pyrat"?

...that, while it is unknown if pirates actually kept parrots as pets, it is thought that at least some captains kept cats aboard to keep populations of rats and other vermin down?

...that, unlike traditional Western societies of the time, many pirate clans operated as limited democracies, demanding the right to elect and replace their leaders?

More did you knows...

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.

Image credit: Howard Pyle

Howard Pyle's illustration of pirate marooning. Marooning is leaving someone behind on purpose in an uninhabited area, such as an uninhabited island. The chief practitioners of marooning were 17th and 18th century pirates, to such a degree that they were frequently referred to as "marooners." The pirate articles of captains Bartholomew Roberts and John Phillips specify marooning as a punishment for cheating one's fellow pirates or other offenses.

More pictures...

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.