UPDATED 10 OCTOBER 2011

Though often portrayed in movies as flamboyant, dashing and romantic characters, in truth, pirates were far from that. Fortunately, most relied on fear and intimidation rather then violence to achieve their "booty", but some did not. Thomas Tew and Edward Low were prone to violence and cruelty toward prisoners. Another of their ilk was Christopher Moody, who flew a red "Jolly Roger" with an hour glass and wings, his flag clearly expressing to all his intended victims that their time to live was swiftly flying away. Meant to show his deadly intent, he often showed no quarter to his defenseless victims and his cruelty was widely known. And then there was Edward Teach or Thatch, also known as Blackbeard. The most famous pirate in history, his deeds, behavior and terrifying image made him the perfect villain, and yet, as terrifying as his reputation may have been, there is no evidence to suggest that he ever tortured or murdered anyone during his very brief career (1717-1718) of piracy. He did, however, manager to amass a fleet of four ships and over 300 pirates, as well as fourteen "wives", the last being 14-year old Mary Ormond. Despite the character of the pirates that sailed and plundered the Caribbean during the Gold Age of Piracy (1690-1720), be they of the gentlemanly type, such as was Stede Bonnet and Bartholomew Roberts (Black Bart) or cruel and heartless, as was Tew and Low, collectively they were all motivated by one thing. Whether they were treated unfairly, as some where, by their former employers or governments or they took to the occupation of "buccaneering" by a mere whim or by desperation, matters little in the face of the underling reason they chose to be pirates in the first place. And that was greed and the need for fast wealth, regardless of how it was obtained or who suffered in pursuit of the elusive silver reale or gold doubloon. 

                                              

The need for wealth over rode any form of loyalty, honor or remorse unless the individuals involved were suspected of treachery by their shipmates and faced the all to common prospect of either being "dispatched" on the spot or stranded on a deserted island without food or water; the latter a very common end for many a deceitful pirate.  As for pirates in general, there was little comradeship or trust shared with others of their chosen profession, outside of their shipmates and even among members of the same crew, loyalty and honesty was never a guarantee.  Greed did not invite trust in any form and pirates, by the very nature of their chosen occupation, could ill afford the luxury of this trait. Any form of "parlay" was viewed with much skepticism and the "word" of a pirate was usually worth about as much as a silver Reale (25 cents US). Even the dashing, charismatic, and very likable Captain Jack Sparrow, in the block-buster movie series "Pirates of the Caribbean"  was not above deceitfulness, betrayal and skullduggery when it came to obtaining quick wealth.       

Clearly, the "Brotherhood", as seen in the "At  Worlds End", the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, was  purely a Hollywood invention, designed around the main theme with no creditable application of historical significance being intended. Pirates were just that.......Pirates. And no matter how portrayed, they were men and women who sought personal affluence and prosperity at the expense, and often the lives, of others.  None the less, this does not alter the attraction and interest that the Pirates Realm has had on millions of people world wide, and in many respects, has made virtual heroes out of the villainous types that took up the cutlass and raised the Jolly Roger on

 

                                                                            

Again, Hollywood, and many miniature modeling companies, would have us believe that pirate ships, such as the "Black Pearl", were common fare for pirates as they roamed and plundered the High Seas. This is untrue for the most part, although there were some famous pirates that did indeed "captain" large vessels blistering with cannons.  Blackbeard's 40-gun "Queen Ann's Revenge", Bartholomew Robert's 52-gun "Royal Fortune",  Henry Avery's 46-gun "Fancy" and Captain Kidd's 24-gun "Adventure Galley" proves this fact. 

None-the-less, most of those that took up piracy, especially in the Caribbean, preferred vessels that had a low silhouette, were fast under sail and that had a shallow draft so that they could easily navigate the shallow coastline waters in an attempt to evade larger "government" warships. Speed and a low silhouette were essential. Aside from the popular Jamaican Sloop, arguably the most common Caribbean  "pirate ship" of the era, a good number of larger vessels, such as two and three-masted merchant ships, were captured and converted by pirates to fit their needs. This involved removing internal partitions below decks thereby creating a clear space to work the ships cannons, as was the case in warships.  Making a captured merchant vessel into a more suitable Sea Rover was also very common. This involved making her "flush", in which the forecastle was removed and the quarter-deck lowered so that the upper deck ran from stem to stern and provided an unobstructed gun platform. The hull was often strengthened and pierced to carry extra cannons, with an array of swivel guns mounted on the gunwales.   

During the 18th century, the single-masted Sloop formed the largest single type of pirate vessel encountered in the Caribbean. She was small, only about 52 feet in length, a beam (width) of 18 feet and usually displaced about 70 tons. She could carry up to 14 small cannons (3-6 pound) and 75 men.  This arrangement was suitable for pirates since they most often preyed on unarmed merchant ships and didn't intend on trading "ball" with big, nasty warships anyway.  Her single mast was "fore and aft rigged" with a "square rigged" top sail and a "jibbed" bowsail. Crews usually never exceeded 60 stout souls and "employment" was seldom long lasting.  

The infamous pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach) fought his last fight aboard the single masted Sloop in 1718 near South Carolina's Outer Banks. His vessel, the Adventure, was armed with only 8 small cannons (4 guns per side plus a swivel gun on the bow) and a crew of but 25 hardy souls. Stede Bonnet's also commanded a Sloop, the "Revenge" with 10 guns and a crew of 70 men as did Charles Vane, whose Sloop the "Ranger", sported 6 guns and a crew of 60 men. In most cases, due to the limited room, pirates would slip out at night, raid a booty laden merchants vessel and then slip back into port early in the morning, thereby avoiding any British, French or Dutch warships that me be lurking about. 

 

The Schooner was a fast little vessel, and like her cousin the Sloop, was very popular with pirates due to her low silhouette, shallow draft and ability to navigate easily through inlands waterways. Schooners had two-mast, as opposed to the single mast on a Sloop, and carried fore and aft sails on both masts.  They were distinguished by a narrow hull and a large spread of sail, which enabled them to effortlessly make 11 knots when underway.  A typical Schooner could weigh up to 85 tons, and held the same number of cannons and crew as the Sloop. Their main limitation, as was also the case of the Sloop, was their inability to hold provisions or quarter the crew for long voyages. However, when it came to "making way" in the event of trouble, the relatively light Schooner could do just that, easily out-maneuvering the large "government" ships, as they hastily beat a path for shallower water. In the Colonies, Schooners were also popular with the British Navy, who made it their business to hunt down elusive and pesky buccaneers. In this regard, the Schooner worked well, as it could follow the pirate vessel and not be hampered by the shallow water inlets that so often was used by pirates to evade larger ships.  

 

Brigantines was arguably the "work horse" of the British as well as serving as the Flagship for a number of famous pirates. The "Good Fortune", captained by Bartholomew Roberts (Black Bart) and the "Satisfaction", under the command of pirate Edward Collier, were both Brigantines. Both Charles Vane, and "Calico Jack" Rackham also commanded a captured Brigantines. Brigantines were two-masted ships, their foremast running square-rigged sails and their mainmasts having a fore and aft sails with a square-rigged topsails. These ships also had a jibbed bow sails. This sail arrangement allowed the ship to be able to utilize many different wind conditions while underway. Brigandines displaced around 150  tons, measured around 80 feet in length, and had a beam of around 28 feet. They had a relatively shallow draught of around 11 feet and were crewed by bear 120 men. In regards to armament, they varied from 12 to 24 cannons mounted on a single deck. She lacked the speed of a Sloop or Schooner, but had the ability to carry more "booty" and this made her a "ship of choice" for a number of noteworthy pirates. Additionally, her larger cargo areas combined with her moderate amount of broadside firepower meant that she could serve well as a merchant escort as well as a cargo ship. A similar ship to the Brigantine was called a Brig, which was not very common in the waters of the New World. It had two fully square-rigged masts.  The Snow, also very similar to the Brigantine was popular with the British Navy who used these vessels extensively to patrol for pirates.   

Arguably the "work horse" of the Caribbean, these vessels gained such as reputation beyond their native Dutch waters that they became the prototype for cargo ships of all the major seafaring nations. Also, these  three masted ships with full, square sails, are what we all like to imagine that pirate ships looked like. Although some famous pirates, such as Edward Teach (Blackbeard), did obtain Fluyts and converted them into very formidable pirate vessels, they were slower than the far more frequently used Sloops and Schooners. However, they did have their advantages. Designed as merchant ships, they proved more sea worthy then traditional pirate ships, help up better in storms, could carry more crew and storage and provided excellent gun platforms. Although designed to carry only around 16 cannons, Blackbeard's "Queen Ann's Revenge", which was formally the French slave ship "La Concorde" was remodeled to carry 40 cannons. The design of Fluyts closely resembled that of early Galleons, typically displacing between 200 and 300 tons, a 28 foot beam and length of about 105 feet . The pear-shaped vessel had a large cargo bay near the waterline and a relatively narrow deck above. They were usually three-masted, being square-rigged on fore and main masts and lateen on the mizzenmast.  It is also believe that the 21-gun "Morning Star" captained by pirate Thomas Anstis in 1721, was a converted Fluyt. This is very possible since many of these type ships were often given extra cannons and served as "flag ships" for some noteworthy pirate-types as well as armed escort vessels for merchant fleets.

 

In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built". These could be warships carrying their principal battery of carriage-mounted cannons on a single deck or on two decks, with further smaller carriage-mounted guns usually carried on the forecastle and quarterdeck of the vessel). The term was generally used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle, although early line-of-battle ships were frequently referred to as frigates when they were built for speed. In the 18th century, the term referred to ships which were usually as long as a Ships-of -the Line, and were square rigged on all three masts  (full rigged), but were faster and with lighter armament, used for patrolling and escort. In the definition adopted by the British Admiralty, they were rated ships of 28-38 guns mounted on a single continuous deck, while ships of the line possessed two or more continuous decks bearing batteries of guns. The heaviest long guns carried began as 9-pounders, but soon rose to 12- and 18-pounders, with numbers of the smaller calibers added to the forecastle and quarterdeck above. Smaller "swivels" also were carried, to be mounted in holes on the rails or in the fighting tops. They were sometimes used to hunt pirates. Only a few pirates were ever in command of a frigate as most pirates exercised discretion and withdrew rather than do battle with a Frigate.

 

The Galleon was an ocean going ship type which evolved from the Carrack in the second half of the sixteenth century. The galleon differed from the older types ships primarily by being longer, lower and narrower, with a square tuck stern instead of a round tuck, and by having a distinctive "snout" that protruded forward from the bow below the level of the forecastle. While Carracks tended to be lightly armed and were used as merchant vessels, Galleons were purposely constructed not only as trade ships but also as warships especially by the Spanish Empire. Although these large vessels did not completely deter pirate attacks, with a crew of upwards of 200 men manning two or three decks of 70 or more cannons, plus numerous swivel guns, these virtual Man-O-Wars of their day could use resistance as a fearsome last resort. Galleons were square-rigged on two or three masts and with a lateen sail on the mizzenmast. A main disadvantage was the ships slow top speed, which amounted to about 8 knots, which made any quick compensations or maneuvers almost impossible especially in rough seas.  Although a wide variety of cannons were used on Galleons, the 9-pound demi-culverin was a very common form of armament. Aside from Spain, English Galleons, developed by John Hawkins, also proved to be decisive as well as incredibly durable in battle or when caught up in a storm at sea. A typical Spanish War Galleon had a number of decks, including a forecastle, upper or weather deck, main deck, lower or orlop deck, poop deck, and quarterdeck. Galleons were used  extensively by Spain to transport "treasure" from the New World to Europe, wherein they became  prime targets for pirates. However, by the 18th century, with the increased use of full-rigged ships (sailing vessel with three or more square rigged masts), Galleons, as well as Fluyts and Brigantines, once used as both merchant vessels and "warships", were soon rendered obsolete for trade and warfare respectively. 

 

Aside from the obvious, why would a crew of wanted men risk it all to sail out in a small ship in an attempt to "boost" the booty off of a heavily armed Galleon? Consider this. A Spanish Reale was worth about 25 cents (today's value) and 8 Reale were equal to the value of one "Pieces of Eight". Pieces of Eight, which contained an ounce of silver each, was the most common form of currency used in Spanish America and was widely used throughout the New World colonies. A single silver Escudo was worth 2 Pieces of Eight, 16 Reales or 2 US dollars. Now comes the good old gold Doubloon. A single Doubloon, which contains one ounce of pure gold, was equal in value to 16 Pieces of Eight, 8 Escudos or 128 Reale. It was also the equivalent of $16 US today.

Pirates and the gold Doubloons go hand in hand and the reasons are simple. A common man, toiling at hard labor during the 17th century, would have to work an entire month to earn 1 Pieces of Eight or 1 US dollar ! Knowing this, the lure of rich treasure and the freedom of escaping a miserable lower class existence was far too strong for many men to ignore. The rewards of piracy could go beyond the wildest imagination, and in the mind of a pirate, this clearly outweighed any risks of injury, starvation, sickness or even death by hanging. 

In 1692 pirate captain Captain Thomas Tew returned to his home in Rhode Island aboard his 8-gun Sloop "Amity" with a crew of 60 men and the hold of the ship filled to the brim with a fortune including 100,000 pounds in gold and silver, chests of jewels, plus a wealth of other "booty". When divided, each man received 3,000 pounds of the loot, which amounted to about $3.5 million by today's standards !! Captain Tew, being the "brains of the outfit", walked off with a double share of the loot or roughly seven million bucks. Now, how far do you think that amount of money would go back in 1692? And that was just in one haul alone!  Unfortunately (not for Mrs. Tew) Captain Tew was killed trying to heist more loot from another ship.  However, his treasure chest and original plunder ($ 7,000,000) remained home with his wife and two daughters. Needless to say, his family never needed for much after his unfortunate demise. And you think that crime didn't really pay back then ? Ask any successful pirate, such as Thomas Tew or even Mrs. Tew, for that matter. 

More information on pirate ships can be found on the Pirate King website at  http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/index.htm

Link to a site dedicated to the pirate havens of Tortuga and New Providence Islands at http://www.cindyvallar.com/havens5.html