Sailboat pirates. Pirate “symbols” (nicknames, ship names, flags, tattoos, “Jolly Roger”, amulets)

The first small submarines of the Soviet Navy On February 22, 1932, the Council of Labor and Defense (STO) of the USSR issued a decree on the construction of 30 small submarines, with the first six due for delivery by July 1, and the rest by December 1, 1932. The boats were intended for hasty formed

Cleaning large and small Cleaning on ships is a sacred task. When a person first gets on a ship and sees perfectly tidy decks, gold shimmering coins, clean white covers on weapons and boats, he does not think about how this is achieved. And this is achieved by endless

Small tanks “2592” (“TK”) “2592” (“TK”) Japan avoided the almost universal craze for crazy wedges in the 20-30s, choosing small tanks as reconnaissance and security vehicles. The prototype of the small tank "2592" (often called the "92 TK tankette") was built by

§ 1. The ships of the Empire Squadron inherited and used throughout their existence a type of warship that cannot be found in modern fleets. It was an elongated, low war galley, a vessel that actually had the decisive advantage that

Pirates, by the very nature of their occupation, required maneuverable, fast and well-armed ships. And, of course, they didn’t bother building them - why? After all, it is easier to capture a ship by assessing its seaworthiness in advance. The pirates needed speed in order to catch up with their fleeing prey, and in order to carry off their own legs if they ran into military frigates. Having captured merchant ships, pirates usually “tuned” them: they removed deck superstructures, bulkheads in the hold, made a lower poop, sawed off one of the masts, and cut additional ports for guns in the sides.
The most legendary pirate ships were even faster than ordinary ships. For example, Charles Vane, who was hunting in the Bahamas, evading sea patrols in 1718, advanced two of his own for every foot of them.

1. Queen Anne's Revenge

This is how the no less famous corsair Edward Teach named his famous ship. It was on this ship that he reached the peak of his filibuster career. Until 1717, this ship was the French merchant ship Concorde with 14 guns and a displacement of about 200 tons. Why Teach gave the ship such a strange name remains unknown. There are different versions, one of which says that it was his nostalgia for the past, when Teach was in military service during the reign of this queen.
Having captured the Concorde, Teach showed unexpected nobility - he transferred its captain to his old sloop, added his slaves to it, with whom he managed to sail to Martinique. The name change was only a small part of the metamorphoses that then occurred with the former merchant ship. Teach or “Blackbeard”, as he was called, increased the number of cannons on the sides of the ship to 40. The small crew of pirates then threw merchant ships into a state of panic, this is not surprising, because now their ship was second in firepower after the ship of Bartholomew Roberts .

To conquer nature, man creates mega-machines - the most incredible technologies in the world, the capabilities and dimensions of which amaze the imagination. Yes...

2. "Royal Fortune"

This ship, with a much clearer name, belonged to the famous Welsh pirate John Roberts, better known as Bartholomew Roberts. He worked not only in the Caribbean, but also in the Atlantic, managing to capture over 400 ships. His behavior was characterized by extravagance. Having been involved in piracy for many years, Roberts changed several ships. In 1719 he was chosen captain of the Royal Tramp, which had 30 guns in service. Leaving on a captured sloop in pursuit of the brigantine, he met with the betrayal of his own assistant Walter Kennedy and the crew, who deserted. Then Roberts named his 10-gun sloop "Luck" and forced his sailors to swear allegiance on the Bible.
In 1721, he captured a 42-gun French ship, which he called the Royal Fortune. Such a ship was considered impregnable, and its capture was a glorious victory, especially since the governor of the island of Martinique was on board. The latter faced the gallows for having previously hanged many pirates from Roberts' entourage. Controlling such a warship, it seemed that there was no longer any fear of other warships. But the following year, as a result of a battle with the English warship Swallow, Roberts was killed.

3. Ouida

The famous flagship Ouida was in the hands of the filibuster Black Sam Bellam. Historians claim that the name of the ship appeared in honor of the city of Ouidah, located on the territory of modern Benin - at that time it was the center of the slave trade. This ship was launched in 1715 in the port of London. The ship was intended to transport slaves from Africa. From London he headed to Africa to further sail to North America. The ship was launched from the stocks as the fastest ship, capable of reaching a speed of 13 knots. This was necessary to reduce the transportation time of slaves, who were dying in the holds like flies.

Since ancient times, people have traveled the seas, gradually improving their ships. Modern shipbuilding is very developed, and the range of ships has become...

4. "Adventure"

Scottish privateer William Kidd's favorite ship was the Adventure. The Adventure was both a frigate, equipped with straight sails, and a galley, since it also had oars. The latter made the ship especially maneuverable, both in windy and calm weather. It had 34 cannons on its sides and a displacement of 287 tons. The ship's crew consisted of 160 people. The main task of the Adventure was precisely the destruction of other pirate ships. Kidd himself was accused of pirate attacks and other crimes, but to this day the case remains unfinished.

5. "Fantasy"

The ship "Fantasy" was commanded by Henry Avery, who had several nicknames - "Long Ben", "Archipirate" and was one of the luckiest gentlemen of fortune. Fantasia was originally a 30-gun frigate, the Charles II, whose crew enjoyed plundering French merchant ships. When a riot broke out on it (usually for pirates), the first mate Avery seized power there. He began by renaming the ship (which is also typical), after which he had a glorious rampage on it, and only death separated them.

6. "Happy Delivery"

On this small but glorious vessel, the English pirate George Lauter sailed the expanses of the Atlantic and Caribbean Seas in the 18th century. His favorite technique was to ram a pursued vessel and then lightly board it. “Delivery” was very suitable for this tactic.

7. "Rising Sun"

This ship with a beautiful name belonged to one of the most ruthless thugs - Christopher Moody, who did not take anyone prisoner on principle, preferring to quickly send his captives to the next world. Therefore, when they saw the 35-gun frigate “Rising Sun” on the horizon, most ships tried to slip beyond the horizon as quickly as possible. And it could be distinguished by its bright and recognizable flag. This continued until Moody was caught and hanged.

Formula 1 is not just the most expensive and spectacular sport. These are the latest technologies, these are the best design and engineering minds, this is any...

8. "Talky"

During the golden age of piracy, there was a Creole pirate, John Bowen, who sailed on a large 50-gun ship, the Talkative, which had a displacement of 450 tons. Initially, the ship transported slaves, but when Bowen got it, he began to boldly hunt Moorish ships.

9. "Retribution"

This 10-gun sloop was sailed by Steed Bonnet, who was called the "gentleman of the pirates" because this Englishman was of noble birth. The life of the ship, although short, was eventful: at first it was owned by a small landowner, then by the pirate “Blackbeard,” who was given an amnesty, but the ship returned to piracy. "Retribution" was a small and maneuverable boat that managed to sink larger ships.

10. "Golden Hind"

This small galleon belonged to the famous Francis Drake, who, following Magellan's Victoria, managed to sail around the globe. The ship was built in Aldenburg, England and was called “Pelican”. It was a galleon - a new type of ship that replaced caravels and carracks in the 16th century. Its body was decorated with an image of a pelican, as well as red and yellow diamonds. When the ship changed its name, the pelican on the hull was replaced by a doe; moreover, under the bowsprit they fixed a figure of a doe cast from looted and therefore cheap gold.

A person has a god-sized hole in his soul, and everyone fills it as best they can.

Well, what is a sea pirate without a ship? After all, it was both a home and a warehouse for trophies for him. And, of course, a means of transportation. Moreover, the movement was rapid, since often the pirates had to not so much pursue ships of interest for profit as to evade pursuit.

What is a pirate ship?

What basic characteristics should a pirate ship have so that both its captain and crew could count on, if not a successful robbery, then at least escape from justice?

Firstly, any ship that pirates used as the main combat unit had to be extremely fast. This made it possible to suddenly attack an enemy ship, maneuver in order to prevent serious damage from artillery fire, and after the “event” was completed, quickly move to a distance beyond the reach of the enemy.

Secondly, the pirate ship was equipped with serious weapons. Not a single boarding was complete without a preliminary exchange of cannon shots. Therefore, pirate success directly depended on the quality, quantity and rate of fire of artillery. One has only to imagine a small, light and fast ship, bristling with a variety of cannons and muzzles, from which a team of real thugs looked predatorily at their prey. And it immediately becomes clear that few merchant ships had a chance to repel the fierce resistance of sea robbers.

In order for a ship to truly become a pirate, it often had to be rebuilt after being captured. If this was impossible or too costly, the pirates simply sank the robbed ship, let it sink, or sold it, after which they immediately rushed in search of a new victim. It should be noted that in marine terminology, a ship is at least three masts, as well as fully equipped with a set of sailing weapons. But such ships were quite rare among sea robbers.

Converting a captured ship into a pirate ship is a whole science. It was necessary to remove unnecessary inter-deck bulkheads, cut off the forecastle and lower the level of the quarterdeck to create an open combat platform. In addition, it was necessary to equip the sides with additional openings for artillery, and the load-bearing elements of the ship's hull had to be strengthened to compensate for the increased loads.

Small ship: the ideal vessel for a pirate

As a rule, pirates sailed on the same ship throughout their entire “career.” However, there is quite a lot of evidence that after a successful attack, sea robbers easily exchanged their home for a more powerful and fast ship that could be converted to pirate needs. For example, the famous pirate Bartholomew Roberts changed his ship as many as six times, giving the new combat unit the same name - “Royal Fortune”.

Most gentlemen of fortune preferred small and fast ships, in particular sloops, brigantines or schooners. The first ones were almost ideal for the role of a pirate ship. In addition to speed, the sloop had another significant advantage in battle - a shallow draft. This allowed pirates to successfully “operate” in shallow waters, where large warships did not dare to stick their noses. In addition, a small ship is much easier to repair and clean its hull. But some pirate crews were still looking for more spacious and larger ships.

Sloop(sailing warship, class) in the British Royal Navy of the 18th - mid-19th centuries - a ship that has no rank, with a rating of “24-gun” or lower, and therefore does not require a commander with the rank of captain. The definition was not universal. Traditionally, it did not include established types of small ships, such as the tender or schooner.

Brig- two-masted ship; the armament is the same as that of the foresail and mainmast of the frigate.

Schooner- a ship with an oblique rig: there is a three-masted schooner, and on the foremast there are sometimes also straight sails (topsails, topsails and top-topsails) or a two-masted one - where on the foremast it sometimes also has straight sails (topsails and topsails) .

Schooner brig- a 2-masted sailing ship, with a foremast like a brig and a mainmast like a schooner.

Brigantine(Italian brigantino - brig schooner, brigantina - mizzen) - a light and fast ship with the so-called mixed sailing rig - straight sails on the front mast (foremast) and with slanting sails on the rear (mainmast). Initially, brigantines were equipped with oars.

THE MOST FAMOUS PIRATE SHIPS

"QUEEN ANNE'S REVENGE"

Queen Anne's Revenge- the only real sailing ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, the pirate’s flagship Edward Teach(Edward Teach or Edward Thatch) nicknamed Blackbeard(Blackbeard).

The sailing ship was built in 1710 in Great Britain, when the Spanish fleet bought it in 1713, the ship bore the proud name "Concord"(La Concorde) and was a three-masted ship with dimensions
supposedly thirty-six by eight meters, displacing three hundred tons, armed with twenty-six guns. Neither exact information about the appearance and structure of the sailboat, nor illustrations of it were found. The only image of a sailboat is in the monograph by J. Boudriot. After the Spaniards, the ship was bought by the French. And for several years, Concorde was transporting slaves in the Caribbean. In 1717, the sailing ship was captured by pirates led by Blackbeard.

Edward Drummont(Edward Drummond), that was actually Tich's name, was an Englishman, presumably born in the 80s of the seventeenth century. During the war between England and France, the so-called “Queen Anne's War,” he was a privateer and robbed French and Spanish ships in the Caribbean Sea together with Benjamin Hornigold. It was no coincidence that he received his nickname, since he really was the owner of a luxurious black beard, into which he wove black ribbons. He did everything to live up to the image of the most terrible pirate in the Caribbean. There was a song about him "Fifteen Men on Dead Man's Chest"- this was the name of the small island of the Caribbean Sea, where Edward Teach landed 15 people from his team for an organized riot, leaving them only rum and sabers, in the hope that they would get drunk and go crazy and kill each other.

The Concorde crew surrendered to Blackbeard virtually without a fight. Two small sloops captured an almost three-ton ship. So great was Blackbeard's fame among Caribbean sailors. What is noteworthy is that the pirates did not kill the crew of the sailing ship, but simply landed everyone on the nearest island, leaving them with one of their sloops.

Edward Teach renamed "Concord" V "Queen Anne's Revenge" and made it his flagship. The ship was partially rebuilt and its armament increased to forty guns. The number of the ship's pirate crew was up to 150 people.

In two years, Blackbeard had robbed about forty ships, and was now leading an entire flotilla of pirate ships.

The most famous of all Tich's tricks was the blockade of the entrance to the harbor Charleston(South Carolina) in May 1718. And already in June of the same year, Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground and then sank in Topsail Bay off the coast of North Carolina (the area of ​​​​present-day Beaufort Bay). According to some sources, Blackbeard was shipwrecked while trying to hide from his pursuers; according to another version (which is more likely), the ship was sunk on purpose, since the pirate no longer needed this sailing ship, widely known among seafarers. Edward Teach himself was killed on November 22, 1718 by the English lieutenant Robert Maynard, who was hired specifically for this by the Governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood.

Since then, legends have been formed about the adventures of Blackbeard and his famous sailing ship; his prototype can be found in the works of Daniel Defoe and Robert Stevenson. But the pirate and the ship became most famous thanks to the film “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

It so happened that more than two centuries later, exactly on the day of Teach’s death, on November 22, 1996, divers of the Intersol group in Beaufort Bay (North Carolina) found an anchor claw sticking out of the silt.

After the examination, it became known that the anchor belonged to the legendary sailing ship Queen Anne's Revenge. The search continued, and the collection of the North Carolina Maritime Museum was replenished with many exhibits from the famous sailing ship. These are several cannons, weapons, a ship's bell (dated 1709), a large number of cannonballs, and navigational instruments. In the spring of 2012, work began on raising the wreck of the ship.

"ADVENTURE"

Galley Adventure Galley) - the ship of one of the most famous pirates in the history of navigation - William Kidd.
Captain Kidd can rightfully be called one of the most legendary personalities among pirates of all times.
But few people know that most of what is said about Kidd is fiction. He is often portrayed as a very successful and extremely cruel pirate. William Kidd is credited with torture and abuse of sailors, countless captured and robbed ships, and countless treasures buried in unknown places. By the way, some adventurers are still looking for Captain Kidd’s treasure to this day.

In fact, William Kidd became world famous only due to a combination of circumstances that made him a bargaining chip in the political games of the British authorities.

Scotsman William Kidd was born around 1645 in Greenock. Almost nothing is known about the childhood and youth of the future captain. William's father was a Calvinist pastor who gave his son a good, comprehensive education. Kidd probably began his naval career at a fairly young age.
In 1688, he was one of the survivors of a shipwreck off the coast of Haiti. In 1689, he became captain of the privateer ship Blessed William, captured from the French. In 1690, the crew of the Blessed William, led by Robert Culliford, stole a sailing ship from its own captain and went piracy, and Kidd received a new ship, the Antigua, and settled in New York for several years, where he married and led a completely law-abiding life.

In 1695, William Kidd made a deal with the Earl of Bellomont (Governor General of New England) and Robert Livingston, a New York entrepreneur, as a result of which Kidd received a letter of marque, allowing him to plunder French ships, as well as attack any pirate ships.
To implement this idea, the ship Adventure Galley was purchased, with a displacement of approximately 300 tons, with 46 oars and 34 cannons. Nothing more is known about this ship - neither what it looked like, nor where and when it was built.

In 1696, Captain Kidd, His Majesty's new privateer, left England. Having recruited a team in New York, Kidd headed to the shores of India via the Cape of Good Hope.

From the very first days, William Kidd was unlucky: French ships did not come across the path of the Adventure Galley. There were only British, Dutch and Indian ships, which the pirate Kidd, no matter how much he wanted, had no right to plunder.

As time passed, the crew of the "Galley Adventure" began to grumble: the sailors wanted booty and they increasingly insisted on open piracy. But Captain Kidd was adamant. As a result, a riot broke out on the Adventure Galley in 1697. One of the dissatisfied was bombardier William Moore, who was killed in a skirmish with the captain. The situation became increasingly tense. And in November 1697, near Madagascar, the Galley Adventure attacked the Dutch ship Ruparel. Kidd justified the attack by saying that French documents and a French flag had been found on the ship.
In January 1698, a rich Indian ship, the Quedah Merchant, was robbed, which also, despite being Indian, had a French passport. In November of the same year, the story of the sailing ship “Galera Adventure” ended - Captain Kidd burned the ship near the island of Sainte-Marie. The captain himself and his crew moved to the captured “Quedakh Merchant”, which he renamed the “Adventure Prize”. The Indian authorities were extremely dissatisfied with the capture of the Quedakh Merchant. The East India Company was threatened with all sorts of troubles from the Indian side. And Captain Kidd was accused of piracy. But instead of hiding, William Kidd went straight into the hands of the British authorities - he was sincerely confident in his innocence, because both captured ships had French passports. Kidd gave all the papers confirming his innocence into the hands of Bellomont, hoping for the lord's support.

In 1700, Kidd's trial took place, where these documents did not appear. And the captain of the "Galley Adventure" was accused of piracy and murder. On May 23, 1701, William Kidd was executed by hanging. The execution was successful only on the second attempt; the first time the rope broke. Kidd's body was caged and hung over the Thames as a warning to all pirates, and the captain himself was declared the greatest villain and robber. His name is surrounded by rumors and legends, including those about treasures that the pirate managed to bury on unknown shores.
The story of William Kidd formed the basis of the works of Edgar Poe (The Gold Bug), Robert Stevenson (Treasure Island), Washington Irving (The Devil and Tom Walker and The Pirate Kidd). In 1945, the feature film “Captain Kidd” was released.

The very first literary work about Kidd - "Captain Kidd's Farewell to the Seas"(English: Captain Kidd’s Farewel to the Seas) - was written on the day of his hanging.

"GOLDEN DOE"

"Golden Hind"- small galleon of the famous English pirate Francis Drake, the second ship in the history of navigation - after the carrack "Victoria" of Ferdinand Magellan - to travel around the world.
The sailing ship left the stocks in the English city of Aldeburgh and was called “Pelican” (“Pelican”, English). As a type of ship, the Pelican was a galleon, which replaced the carracks and caravels in the 16th century. Galleons had a more slender hull than carracks, without a massive stern superstructure. Like all galleons of that time, the Pelican had three masts: the mainsail, the foresail and the mizzen. The main and foremasts carried two tiers of straight sails, the mizzen mast was armed with an oblique “Latin” sail, and under the bowsprit there was a straight sail - a blind.

Drawings for the construction of ships in those days were not yet known, so data on the size of the Pelican varies: the length of the galleon varies in different sources from 20 to 40 meters, width - from 5.8 to 6.7 meters, displacement 100-150 tons. There is also no exact data regarding the armament of the sailing ship; presumably, the Pelican was armed with 18-22 cannons. The ship's hull was decorated with a pattern of yellow and red diamonds and an image of a pelican. After the ship was renamed "Golden Hind", instead of a pelican, an image of a doe appeared on the hull, and a completely golden figure of a doe was installed under the bowsprit.
In December 1577, the most famous voyage of the Golden Hind (then the Pelican) began. The royal privateer, the favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, Captain Francis Drake, nicknamed the Iron Pirate, led a squadron of five British ships from the port of Plymouth. These were the ships "Christopher", "Sea Gold", "Elizabeth", "Swan" and "Pelican". The squadron headed to the shores of South America with the goal of robbing as many Spanish ships as possible.

In August-September 1578, the ships of the Drake squadron passed through the Strait of Magellan (South America), but in the Pacific Ocean the ships were caught in a severe storm, in which they lost sight of each other. The Pelican was alone. It was carried far to the south, thanks to which Francis Drake made an important geographical discovery: Tierra del Fuego turned out to be not the tip of the unknown Southern continent, but just an archipelago. The strait discovered by the captain of the Pelican was later named the Drake Passage.

Loneliness did not stop Drake from robbing Spanish ships and harbors along the West Coast of South America, which he successfully did. The Spaniards had to equip an entire squadron to chase the elusive pirate. The hunt for Drake has begun. But after a long chase, which lasted more than one day, the Pelican managed to escape again. Inspired by luck, the captain decided to rename the ship “Golden Hind” for its excellent navigability. Another reason for renaming the ship could be that the coat of arms of Drake's patron, Lord Hutton, depicted a doe. This was the first time that a ship's name was changed while it was sailing. The Golden Hind left the coast of South America across the Pacific Ocean past the island of Java and the Cape of Good Hope. And in September 1580 she returned to her native England, thus making the second trip around the world in world history. Drake's circumnavigation of the world turned out to be much more successful in the end than the Magellan expedition, most of whose sailors, and the famous captain himself, died during the journey. Francis Drake returned home not only safe and sound, but also brought back 4,700% of the profits from his trip, obtained as a result of three years of robbery and robbery. Most of the profits went to the British treasury, and Francis Drake was knighted personally by Queen Elizabeth I.

After this voyage, the galleon "Golden Hind" became a universal object of admiration among the British. It was placed in permanent mooring on the Thames, where it stood for almost a hundred years until 1662, becoming one of the main attractions of London.
In the 20th century, two replicas of the legendary sailing ship were created: in 1963 and 1973. They are not similar to each other, since there were no drawings of the “Golden Hind”, and the ship was restored according to scattered descriptions. The 1973 replica circumnavigated the world, repeating Drake's voyage, and has stood on the south bank of the Thames as a floating museum since 1996. The second copy of the Golden Hind is in the town of Brixham in Devonshire.

"ROYAL LUCK"

Bartholomew became one of the most successful pirates in history, capturing 456 ships and more than £50 million worth of booty during his short four-year career as a pirate. He was practically elusive; historians are inclined to believe that Roberts was much brighter than such pirates as Blackbeard a or Anne Bonney.

Roberts began his sea voyages as a mate on a slave trading ship. He joined a pirate ship at the age of 37, as 3rd mate aboard the Princess of London, commanded by pirate captain Howel Davis, near Annabamo, which is located on the Gold Coast of West Africa (the coast of modern Ghana). He was forcibly assigned to the crew as a navigator.

After 6 weeks of sailing under the command of Davis, Bartholomew was chosen as captain of the ship "Pirate"(Rover). This happened after Davis was killed in an attack on Prince Island (modern Principia, 200 km west of Equatorial Guinea). This was an unexpected decision, despite the fact that he was with the team for only a month and a half, but no one had mastered the skill of a navigator better than him, and, in addition, Roberts, as historians note, was a sincere and stubborn person.

His first act as captain was to convince the crew to return to Prince Island to avenge the death of Captain Davis. Roberts and his crew attacked the island at night, killing many people and looting much valuables. Thus began the career of the most successful pirate in history. Black Bart then went to sea and captured several merchant ships.

Not content with the spoils off the coast of Africa, Roberts set sail for the Caribbean in early 1720. By the time of his arrival on the Devil's Islands, all merchant ships chose to take refuge under the protection of the cannons of the coastal forts, since Roberts's pirate fame had long reached these places. Deciding to seek his fortune in other waters, Roberts went north, where he profitably sold the goods captured off the coast of Guinea. Off the coast of Canada, he robbed 21 ships loaded with valuable furs.

The summer of 1720 was also very successful - Roberts captured many ships, including 22 ships in Treffisi Bay. This capture was peaceful, since, as soon as they saw a ship with a raised pirate flag, the crews of merchant ships fled to the shore in horror. Roberts had only 60 men at this point. A magnificent French brig was waiting for Roberts Bay, which the captain made his flagship, renaming it "Royal Pirate". Inspired by the easy victory, Roberts made an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Atlantic, but not reaching the coast of Africa due to the lack of a tailwind, he returned to the Caribbean Sea.

In September 1720, Roberts attacked a port on the island of St. Kitts in the West Indies, captured and plundered one of the ships at anchor, and set fire to two others. And in October 1720, Roberts captured and plundered 16 French, English and Dutch ships. In January 1721, he boarded a 32-gun Dutch ship carrying slaves and deceived the population of Martinique. The conflict with Martinique had "personal roots" for Black Bart. The governor of Martinique, deciding to join the fight against piracy (and, perhaps, in search of profit), went out with the ship in search of Bart Roberts. Bart considered this a personal insult, accepted the battle and captured the frigate and hanged the governor. Flying the Dutch flag, he sailed past the ports and gave signals to the French to visit the island of St. Lucia, where smugglers were selling slaves. As a result, the pirates captured and set fire to 14 French ships that went to sea.

In the West Indies, he captured almost a hundred ships, and also made a number of successful raids on coastal cities. To instill even greater fear in the enemy, Bartholomew personally hanged the governor of one of the captured cities from a yardarm.

In the spring of 1721, Black Bart reached the shores of Africa. Off the coast of Sierra Leone, the pirate spent several months engaging in the slave trade and capturing merchant ships. In August, he managed to capture the Liberian city of Onslow, where the headquarters of the Royal African Company was located. Roberts headed southeast, towards Nigeria and Gabon, and then returned to the Ivory Coast, capturing at least six ships along the way. On January 11, 1722, Roberts reached Ouidah (Ouidah in modern Benin) and boarded 11 ships carrying slaves.

He carried out attacks on the coasts of Brazil, Africa and Newfoundland during his pirate career. His production was always so great that the team never doubted his leadership abilities.

"REVENGE"

Stede Bonnet (1688-1718)- English pirate, sometimes called "Pirate Gentleman", mainly because of its origin. His first fairly complete biography is contained in the book “A General History of Piracy” by Daniel Defoe (published under the pseudonym “Charles Johnson”).

By origin Bonnet- a nobleman, received a good education. Before he took up robbery, he served as a major in the colonial militia on the island of Barbados.

The reasons that forced him to take up piracy are not entirely clear. Quite popular in the 18th century were rumors about mild insanity as a result of an unsuccessful marriage to Mary Ellamby, which allegedly prompted the former officer to join the pirates. Another version was the scandalous nature of his wife, which he could not stand and decided to take up piracy.
Having equipped, with his own savings, a sloop with ten guns and seventy crew on board, which he named "Revenge" (revenge, revenge), the major sailed from the island of Barbados.

Bonnet and his crew managed to capture and plunder several ships near Virginia, New York and North Carolina.

An important turn in Bonnet’s fate was his meeting with the famous Edward Teach, nicknamed “Blackbeard.” The major's detachment joined Teach's pirates, and he himself, according to Defoe, transferred command of his ship to one of Blackbeard's assistants and served on his ship for some time.

When Blackbeard's ship was wrecked near Topsail Island, the major decided to submit to the terms of the royal pardon; he again took command of his sloop and arrived at Buttown in North Carolina, where he announced his readiness to carry out the will of the king, for which he was pardoned.

When war broke out between the Confederates of the Triple Alliance and Spain, Bonnet set out to obtain the commander-in-chief's permission to attack the Spanish. To this end, he left North Carolina and headed for the island of St. Thomas. When he again found himself on Topsail Island, he discovered that Teach and his squad had already sailed away from here on a small ship and took with them all the money, weapons and other things, and also landed seventeen guilty people from their crew here. Bonnet took the poor fellows on board.

From the crew of a sloop he met along the way, the major learned that Captain Teach with eighteen or twenty people was on Ocracoke Island. Wanting to take revenge on Teach for a number of insults inflicted on him, Bonnet decided to first sail to the captain’s place of refuge, but missed him; After unsuccessfully cruising for four days in the Ocracoke area, he set course for Virginia.

Under the new name of Thomas (he took the pseudonym because he received a pardon under his real name), the major again took up piracy, capturing and robbing oncoming ships.

Due to repeated news of the seizure of ships by a certain pirate, the South Carolina Council sent Colonel William Rhett with two sloops to the pirate's location in order to attack his ships. After a bloody battle, Colonel Rhett arrived in Charleston on October 3, 1718, with prisoners on board. Bonnet was taken into custody.

After some time, Bonnet and one of his accomplices escaped from prison. The governor sent several armed barges to search for the fugitives, and also published a proclamation promising a reward of 700 pounds sterling to anyone who could catch him. Bonnet was found on Swillivants Island, surrendered, and was conveyed the next day to Charleston, where, by order of the governor, he was placed in custody pending his trial.

On October 28, 1718, the trial opened. Stede Bonnet and thirty other pirates were put on trial; almost all of them were declared guilty and sentenced to death. The judge's speech is given in full in Daniel Defoe's A General History of Piracy.

Sometimes you look at the names of miserable buckets of branded bolts called “yachts” crowded in the marina and think “what do these people even know about the names of ships?!” Well, you can go and see for yourself, at the same time you can easily distinguish those that go on the sea a lot and often from those that are rotting away so that the owner can enjoy membership in the yacht club and pick up women.

I'll give you a hint: Most yacht names symbolize the qualities of their captains, and their size is usually (but not always) inversely proportional to the number of miles spooled on the log. Exceptions are usually noticed immediately by the features of the equipment and - usually - the work being carried out on board. On the pontoon yachts, barbecue work and sunbathing of busty beauties are carried out.

Ship names

But let's talk about names. The name of the ship is usually given on the slipway, and under this name it appears in the statements. And by and large you can forget about it, because it rarely turns out to be successful. The ship acquires its real name during operation, and is usually assigned for life. For example, one schooner got its name "this bitch", and it fully corresponded to her extremely bastard character. Her favorite pastimes were mud baths and diving - apparently she had submarines in her family, hence the mania for lying down on the ground right next to the pier.

Many good ships that have sailed the oceans since time immemorial did not pay attention to what was written on their sides and stern. The crew and captain knew that it was better not to interfere with their voyage - these ships pulled their crew out of terrible storms and managed to stay afloat regardless of the number of cannonballs that made holes in their sides. Many troughs, on the other hand, had proud and arrogant names, but at the same time floated with the same grace as a refrigerator. And a sailor who wanted to be hired on a ship, unless of course he was a fool or was not so desperate as to go anywhere, usually tried to hear how the sailors were talking about the ship.

It should be emphasized that no matter how bad the sailor feels, he will never, I emphasize, never scold his ship. He would rather blaspheme, and few people can put a sailor to shame when it comes to swearing. So, the intonation with which the sailors talk about the ship says a lot about it, and if you’re lucky, you can hear its real name. Here, by the way, there is another point that is lost in the Russian language, but which is important to know: the ship/vessel is feminine, and they are referred to as “she”. A good ship for the captain - wife, daughter, girlfriend, goddess - choose any one.

And finally, the name of the ship that floats and does not pretend to be an iPhone is almost always short. The reason is that in those turbulent times of boarding battles, there were peculiar traditions - both the king, meaning all states, said “we,” and so did the captain, when asked “who is coming?” - he called the name of his ship, and during the battle he could yell “come to me!”, calling on everyone who could still fight to break through to it and with joint efforts throw the enemy into the sea. Now imagine that your ship is called “Admiral Ivan Ivanovich Molotoboytsev.” Yes, they will kill you before you say it, not to mention the fact that this may create confusion in the presentation.

There are ships that have gained fame for their names, and then, when a new ship is laid down, they are given the name of the one that has already retired. If you don’t remember the “Argo” paradox, this is one of the hopes of attracting good luck with the help of a name, or giving a ship the name of a glorious person. Few people know, but the Aurora was once a glorious ship of the Russian Imperial Navy, whose batteries destroyed the British in the Far East (of course, the tea-shoppers don’t like to remember this, because in that battle their marines lost their flag, and the admiral shot himself from such a shame) . And when the laying of new armored cruisers took place, one of them was named after the glorious sailing ship and - it crowned itself with even greater glory, becoming one of the symbols of the Revolution.

And while the winds will blow, beautiful ships will plow the seas, carrying glorious names like banners through the centuries.

If one day you take command of a ship, treat it like a woman. Find out about his history, watch how he walks on the waves, his weaknesses, his character, his secret name - and if you match the characters, you will understand why the Santa Clara was affectionately called "Nina", why the captains shared the fate of their ships , although they could have been saved... Well, if you don’t get along, then it’s better to change the ship, otherwise by the end of the journey only one of you will remain afloat.