Worlds greatest Pirate

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Who do you think was the greatest pirat of all time.

[Lechev]

Hook http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Shahed]

JACK SPARROW

[Divine Wind]

The first one i heard of was Blackbeard. I remember when i was a young lad my grandad would come up to my room and read me stories about pirates and blackbeard was the most prominant. Those cartoon pictures of blackbeard were terrifying and kept me awake rather than sent me to sleep

[Longshanks]

I voted for Morgan. The defeat of the Spanish Flotilla off Maracaibo, and the sack of Panama city (then considered the wealthiest city in the New World) was impressive. I might be a little biased though, as I have a family connection to him. (not a direct descendant)

Title: The King of All Pirates
Author: Krzysztof Wilczyński

In the year 1655 England seized a weakly guarded Spanish Island: Jamaica, and converted it into an English colony. The guards defending the Island were generally taken from the streets, and represented the worst criminal elements. The guards were thieves, murderers, and cheats. From this band of criminals formed many groups of buccaneers who terrorized the region. At this time Henry Morgan began his overwhelming pirate career.

This gives the reader a background of what was to come of Henry Morgan: from an ordinary soldier, to a never crowned king of Jamaica. Morgan earned fame and respect among his friends and enemies alike thanks to his successful (and profitable) attacks on Vilahermosa (Capital of the Mexican province Tobasco), and Gran Granada (the silver mining center of Nicaragua).

Gran Granada, for those times considered a large and prosperous city, was located 200 kilometers inland on the shore of Nicaragua Lake. Access to the town was restricted by dense wild Jungle. Henry Morgan embarked on a difficult and daring escapade involving a long and dangerous journey through the unexplored jungle. This expedition was followed by a triumphant lightning assault on Gran Granada. The attack yielded enormous spoils, and was considered a great success for Henry Morgan.

Henry Morgan was pleasantly surprised upon his return to Jamaica: the island had a newly appointed commander of all English troops in the west Indies, this commander was Henry Morgan’s uncle.

So the continuing pirate career of Henry Morgan was so secured. After the death of Henry Morgan’s uncle (Edward Morgan), the governor of Jamaica chose Henry Morgan to become the commander of the militia in Port Royal. By 1668 Henry Morgan was already an English vice admiral of a fleet of 15 ships. At the same time pirates elected Henry Morgan to become the successor to Edward Mansfield (leader of all pirate activities in Jamaica). As an English officer and pirate general: Henry Morgan became the terror of all Spaniards in the West Indies.

In 1668 Morgan made two pirating ventures. Morgan’s attack on the inland city of Peurto Principe (pwert-o PREEN-the-pay), Cuba, was considered his first Major attack. Unfortunately for Morgan, his crew of pirates were ambushed along the way, and only took the city with bitter struggle and great loss. Things got worse for Morgan when word came that the city’s treasure had been hidden. Morgan and his crew were forced to settle for 50,000 pieces of eight in return for sparing their captives. Half of Morgan’s crew quit after the attack on Puerto Principle. Morgan was not discouraged, and announced plans for attacking the great treasure city of Porto Bello, Panama. Experienced sea pirates scoffed at the plan: Porto Bello was larger, better fortified, and had an army troop when compared to Puerto Principle. Morgan, however, had a plan. When he attacked Porto Bello, he arrived on canoes, silently, and under the cover of darkness, Morgan’s men slipped into the harbor before anyone knew they were there. The first two forts of Porto Bello both fell quickly, but the third withstood each attack the pirates implemented. Morgan finally devised a sinister plan: he used captured catholic priests and nuns to shield his crew as they climbed the walls of the fort. It was only a matter of time before the city fell into the hands of Henry Morgan, along with 250,000 pieces of eight, and 300 slaves. When word of this attack spread, Morgan’s force swelled to 15 ships and 900 men. Henry Morgan was quickly known by the nickname: Morgan "the terrible".


A year later Morgan led an expedition of 8 ships and 650 buccaneers to attack the Venezuelan cities of Marcaibo (a coastal city located at the mouth of an inland lake) and Gilbraltar (located on the other side of the lake). Compared with his last venture, the plunder was not comparable, and Morgan found the cities virtually deserted. The result: 50,000 English pounds, and slaves and goods of the same value. When the pirates tried to sail from the lake, they found that their exit had been blocked. Maracaibo’s powerful fort had their gun trained on Morgan, and three huge Spanish men-o-war stood just outside the channel. Morgan offered the Spanish the option of surrender, instead of accepting, the Spanish laughed. Morgan decided to teach them a lesson they would, indeed, never forget. Morgan had his lead ship (a small sloop, covered with pitch, tar, and brimstone.) loaded with kegs of gunpowder, and had dummies (made of pumpkins and wood, dressed as buccaneers) placed at battle stations throughout his ship. While the Spanish still laughed the small vessel slowly approached them and suddenly burst into flames, it then exploded: sinking the first man-o-war, and burning the second to the hull. The remaining man-o-war was easily captured by the pirates. Once again Morgan offered the Spanish the option of surrender: once again the Spanish refused. Shrugging his shoulders Morgan had his crew embark for shore with longboats: upon seeing this the Spanish assumed the pirates were massing for a land attack. As a result the Spanish moved their cannon to the other side of the fort. Before the Spanish had a chance to move the cannon back into place, Morgan took advantage of the opportunity by safely sailing past the fort that night. Only then did the Spaniards finally realize that they had been tricked: instead of landing on the other side of the jetty, Morgan’s men had simply crouched below the gunwale and returned to their ships. After this battle, Henry Morgan was the undisputed king of the buccaneers.

In January 1670, Morgan set out after the largest venture of his career, to plunder the gold of Panama. Answering his call, 2000 buccaneers on 36 ships assembled to prepare for an attack on Panama. Once Morgan took over Fort San Lorenzo, he led his crew on a rough 16-day journey through dense almost impassable Jungle. The Spaniards were prepared for Morgan, and six hundred cavalry swooped down on the pirates. Thousands of muskets fired; both sides took their loses, but the pirates held their ground. A stampede of 2,000 Spanish bulls did not deter the pirates, and the Spanish finally fled in retreat. The city belonged to the buccaneers, and yielded 100,000 English Pounds. Unfortunately, at that time, England was no longer at war with Spain. Morgan was recalled to England and thrown into the dungeons to stand trial as a pirate. However, King Charles II, learning about Morgan’s great deeds, knighted him instead in 1673, making him lieutenant governor of Jamaica. Morgan was ordered to rid the seas from all buccaneers.

Morgan had done well in executing the Kings orders. When he died in 1688 there were almost no buccaneers left.

Henry Morgan was one of the most ruthless of pirates, his daring, brutality, and intelligence made him the most feared, and respected buccaneer of all time. Henry Morgan really was the king of all pirates.

http://www.piratesinfo.com/biography/biography.php?article_id=35

[Longshanks]

Good article on Morgan's escape off Maracaibo, though the author apparently didn't realize that Welshmen aren't Englishmen.


Henry Morgan and the
Battle of Maracaibo Bar


The pirate has always been something of a romantic figure. Vicious, rough, a swashbuckler and a rebel, he conjures up images in our minds of ship board actions and coastal raids with but one purpose – plunder, and lots of it. The 17th century saw a great deal of piracy along the Spanish Main, and many of its colorful (and oftentimes brutally violent) figures entered the pages of history as both heroes and villains.

Henry Morgan, an Englishman from a decidedly military family, was one of the most successful buccaneers of his, or any other, time. A Welshman, Henry was raised to be skilled in the art of war. Two of his uncles had served both in Europe as mercenaries, and in England during the English Civil War (albeit on opposite sides), and Henry later admitted that his education had left him, “. . . more used to the pike than the book.”

How Henry Morgan came to be in Jamaica at the English colony there is a little uncertain. It is know that he came over as part of Cromwell’s “Western Design.” What is not known is whether he came voluntarily, or if in fact he was fleeing the irate father of a young lass he had soiled. Soon after settling in Port Royal, Henry became a captain of the Port Royal Volunteer Regiment, and received his first privatering commission.

Henry, obviously a charismatic man, was soon leading raiding bands of buccaneers against Spanish holdings along the Main. Some of his early exploits included raids on Puerto Principe and Portobelo, both of which contributed to his growing popularity amongst the cut throats and mercenaries of Port Royal and elsewhere, as well as filling his purse with silver – a lot of silver.

It was then that Morgan gathered a large force of 900 to 1,000 freebooters and 12 assorted sailing vessels, for the purpose of plundering the large and wealthy Spanish port of Cartagena. It was this port that had made Sir Francis Drake a wealthy man, and Henry Morgan was sure it could do the same for him.

Morgan’s captains gathered on Henry’s flagship, the Oxford, on January 12, 1669, for a pre-mission celebration. During the middle of the feast, some unknown crewman proved that fire, gunpowder, and rum in great quantities do not mix. The Oxford’s magazine exploded, destroying the ship in a great blast. The captains sitting opposite the table from Captain Morgan were all killed, while those sitting next to him were unscathed, as was he.

The Spaniards claimed divine intervention. Morgan scoffed at this, but realized that the loss of his flagship and over 200 men (and many of his captains) would require a change of target. After some discussion, one of his surviving captains suggested Maracaibo. This captain had been with the bloodthirsty and brutal French pirate, L’Ollonais , when he successfully raided Maracaibo three years previously, and felt that it could be done again for great profit. Morgan considered this suggestion and, leading his 650 men on eight ships, set out into the Gulf of Venezuela on the way to Maracaibo.

Much to Morgan’s chagrin, the Spanish had, since the last raid, built a fort on a small island some 300 yards from the entrance to the Gulf. Because the channel narrowed near this point, it would not be possible for the privateers to pass by without taking the fort first. So, landing his buccaneers on shore, he led them under cover of a fierce, sand whipping wind, to the base of the bastion. There, Henry found an open door and entered, only to find the place devoid of Spaniards (it turned out there were only eight to begin with). What Henry did find, however, was a lit fuse leading to the fort’s powder magazine. The fuse had been cut to burn for 15 minutes, and there were only five minutes left when he stamped it out.

This first obstacle overcome, the small fleet headed straight for Maracaibo, only to find the town deserted. The men pillaged what they could find, which at the time was little. Not one to go home empty handed, Morgan led his men to Gibraltar, which they plundered, then, returning to Maracaibo, they scoured the surrounding jungle for the hidden villagers. Whenever the found one, they would “coerce” him or her into revealing the location of their valuables.

By the middle of April, Morgan and his buccaneers had their fill of Maracaibo, and, hauling their considerable loot, returned to their ships for the trip back to Port Royal. The raid had gone pretty much as expected, but things almost turned disastrously wrong when they reached the gulf end of the channel. There, waiting with orders from the King of Spain to put an end to Henry Morgan once and for all, were three Spanish warships, any one of which could have easily put an end to Morgan’s entire fleet. Morgan immediately halted the advance of his eight small ships, and the two forces sat there staring at each other. Morgan could not advance for fear of being destroyed, while the Spanish, led by Vice Admiral Alonso del Campo y Espinosa, were too deep drafted to enter further into the channel. What happened next would become the stuff of legends. Morgan’s plan was so fantastic that it has set a standard of daring, trickery and action that Hollywood cannot hope to match.

Late on April 30th, Don Alonso was pleased to see the buccaneer fleet approaching him in single file, however, night fell just before they were within the range of his guns, and both fleets anchored for the night.

At dawn the next morning, Alonso awoke to the site of the privateer’s ships once again approaching him. In the lead was Morgan’s biggest ship, a newly captured Portuguese galleon that he had turned into his flagship, bristling with men and guns. Don Alonso’s flagship, the 48-gun Magdalen, was far larger and more heavily armed, so he chose to wait until Morgan was right beside him before opening up with a devastating broadside which would probably sink the smaller vessel.


Just as the pirate ship pulled alongside the Magdalen, Don Alonso noticed that the enemy’s “guns” were in fact logs, and the “crew” were dummies. The few real crew members could be seen diving overboard, as wisps of smoke came up from the hold. Morgan had converted his flagship into a fireship, and the Spaniards had fallen for it, hook, line, and lit powder keg.


Before Don Alonso could react, the fireship’s magazine exploded, causing the Magdalen to burst into flames, its superstructure being converted into a deadly inferno in a matter of seconds. The Spanish flagship sank quickly, but not before Don Alonso made good his get away to the small fort, now reoccupied by the Spaniards.


The site of their flagship exploding was too much for the other two Spanish captains. The captain of the 38-gun Santa Louisa immediately panicked and ran his ship aground. Meanwhile, the buccaneers came up quickly in their remaining ships and swarmed aboard the 24-gun Marquesa, capturing it and converting it into their own flagship.


Although the Spanish fleet was overcome, Morgan was still not out of hot water (it was the Spanish Main, after all). Don Alonso was in the fort with a garrison of men and plenty of guns. Morgan could not safely led his fleet out of the channel until this resurrected obstacle was dealt with.

The cleverness and guile Morgan used in “overcoming” the fort surpasses even that used in his overcoming the Spanish fleet. For several hours, Morgan sent row boats to shore, filled with heavily armed buccaneers. After depositing their charges, the row boats would return to the fleet where they would pick up another load of pirates. This continued for the better part of the day, until, according to Don Alonso’s count, there were several hundred hostile buccaneers on shore, preparing to assault the fort from the rear. In preparation for the oncoming attack, Don Alonso quite prudently ordered that the cannon be brought to the rear of the fort.

What Don Alonso did not know was that the row boats were only pretending to drop off the buccaneers on shore. In fact, the raiding parties would simply lie down in the holds of the row boats prior to their return to the pirate fleet. They spent a long but not unpleasant day doing this, thus tricking Don Alonso into thinking that he was to be attacked in the rear by a large force. In fact, there were no buccaneers on the island with which to launch an attack of any kind.

The next morning, Morgan led his fleet from the deck of his new flagship, the Marquesa, safely past the fort, which now had all its guns facing the wrong way. Morgan fired a few parting shots at the embarrassed Don Alonso, and headed home.

Admiral Henry Morgan got back to Port Royal on May 17, 1669. In his hold was booty valued at 250,000 pieces of eight, a tremendous haul.

The battle of the Bar at Maracaibo was not Henry Morgan’s last, but it was perhaps his finest. With his riches, he purchased an 836 acre plantation on which he grew sugar cane, an enterprise that turned out to be more profitable than piracy. He continued his career as a privateer for some time, but had to give it up when peace was declared between England and Spain (a peace which did not last long). He was eventually knighted, and returned to Jamaica as Lieutenant Governor, but was removed from his post in 1683 for his “irregularities and excesses.” He died on August 25, 1688, and was buried in Jamaica. The land on which he was buried sank into the sea when Port Royal was hit by a large earthquake in 1692, and now Henry Morgan lies five fathoms beneath the waves.

http://www.flagshipgames.com/maracaibo.htm

[Longshanks]

L’Ollonais & Piet Heyn should probably have been on the poll also. L'Ollonais has the reputation of being the most ruthless pirate, and Heyn once captured the Spanish Treasure Fleet off of Havana.

Fléau des Espagnois
Flail of the Spaniards
By Cindy Vallar



Born in France around 1635, Jean David Nau came to the Caribbean as an indentured servant during the 1650’s. By 1660, however, he had completed his indenture and drifted to St. Domingue where he became a boucanier and eventually, a buccaneer whose career lasted seven years. Fellow pirates called him L’Ollonais. His successes garnered recruits eager to join his expeditions, but his brutality gained him notoriety as one of the cruelest of all pirates.
Most of what we know of L’Ollonais comes from a book, first published in 1678, entitled The Buccaneers of America by Alexandre Oliver Exquemelin. Like L’Ollonais, Exquemelin came to the islands as an indentured servant. From his last master, he learned the skills of a surgeon. He later sailed with Henry Morgan. Unlike L’Ollonais, Exquemelin retired from piracy to become a naval surgeon and wrote about his adventures with the buccaneers. His accounts of L’Ollonais, however, come from the sole survivor of an Indian attack that cost L’Ollonais his life in 1668 or 1669.

Early in his career, L’Ollonais became shipwrecked off the coast of Campeche. On shore Spanish soldiers attacked the pirates, killing all save L’Ollonais. Although wounded, he escaped by rubbing blood and sand over his body and then burying himself amongst the dead. After the Spaniards returned to Campeche, L’Ollonais made his way to the city wearing a disguise. Several slaves aided him in his escape and he sailed home to Tortuga.

While Spaniards celebrated his supposed death, he and his crew of pirates held a town for ransom. When the governor of Havana sent a ship to rescue the town, L’Ollonais and his pirates captured the rescuers. He cut off the heads of all but one soldier so that the survivor could deliver a message to the governor: I shall never henceforward give quarter to any Spaniard whatsoever. It was an oath L’Ollonais kept, which was why Spanish seamen preferred to fight to the death or go down with their sinking ship rather than surrender.

In 1667, L’Ollonais sailed from Tortuga with at least six hundred fellow pirates aboard eight ships. En route to Maracaibo, they took a Spanish prize laden with 40,000 pieces of eight, jewels, and a rich cargo of cacao. Upon reaching their destination, they captured the sixteen-gun fort that protected the lagoon by approaching it from land rather than sea before descending on Maracaibo. Forewarned, the residents fled the city, but the buccaneers hunted down the citizens and brought them back to L’Ollonais, who tortured them until they revealed where they had hidden their wealth.

After two weeks the buccaneers headed for the wealthier city of Gibraltar. Although the garrison there outnumbered them, the pirates were victorious with losses of seventy killed or wounded compared to the five hundred Spaniards who died. For a month, L’Ollonais and his men plundered the city and surrounding countryside, netting 260,000 pieces of eight, gems, silverplate, silks, and slaves. Still not satisfied, the buccaneers returned to Maracaibo and demanded an additional ransom of 20,000 pieces of eight and five hundred cows, which the citizens paid. When the pirates divided their booty, each man received the equivalent of more than one hundred pieces of eight.

Word of the successful raids spread throughout St. Domingue and Tortuga. Later that year, when L’Ollonais mounted another expedition, seven hundred buccaneers went on account with him. After capturing Puerto Cavello, L’Ollonais and three hundred pirates headed for San Pedro where Spanish soldiers ambushed the buccaneers. Seeking a clear path into the city, L’Ollonais tortured the soldiers until they told him how to gain entry without encountering another ambush. “He drew his cutlass, and with it cut open the breast of one of those poor Spaniards, and pulling out his heart with his sacrilegious hands, began to bite and gnaw it with his teeth, like a ravenous wolf, saying to the rest: I will serve you all alike, if you show me not another way.”

L’Ollonais was a master torturer. Not only did he burn his victims or cut out their tongues, but when he began cutting them to pieces, he started with a slice of flesh, progressed to a hand, then an arm, and finally a leg. He favored the practice of “woolding,” where he tied a cord around his victim’s eyes and tightened the cord by twisting it with a stick until the man’s eyes popped out of his head.

Soon after attacking Puerto Cavello, the buccaneers split. Most headed back to Tortuga, but L’Ollonais continued his hunt for treasure. Near the islands of De Las Pertas in the Gulf of Honduras, his ship went aground on a sandbar. Unable to dislodge the ship, the buccaneers built a smaller vessel using the wood from the grounded ship.

L’Ollonais and his men eventually landed on the coast of Cartagena where the Indians of Darien captured the pirates. [They] tore him in pieces alive, throwing his body limb by limb into the fire and his ashes into the air. The cruelest of the buccaneers met a fitting end and the Dariens insured that no trace nor memory might remain of such infamous, inhuman creature.

http://www.cindyvallar.com/lollonais.html



Pirate Biographies

Piet Heyn

Piet Heyn was a Dutch Privateer who haunted the seas around 1620s. He was considered a pirate by the Spaniards. "Buena Guerra GoodWar" was the battle cry of the Dutch Privateers or Zeerovers.

Piet Heyn was a terror to the Spanish Main particularly around the island of Cuba. Heyn started out as a Dutch privateer of little consequence but after being captured by the Spaniards and enslaved in a ship's galley things changed. He was eventually freed in a prisoner exchange and took on duties as a captain of privateering ship.

Heyn was involved in several raids, Dutch West India Company’s Raid on Brazil in 1623, and in 1628 the capture of the silver fleet - galleons that collected the gold and silver along the coast from Panama to Mexico.

Heyn, who commanded a fleet of around 30 ships, knew the silver fleet would meet in Havana before heading out to Spain. So Heyn sailed toward Havana to make his fortune. Benavides, the Spanish Admiral, and his second in command Don Jaun de Loez saw the approach of Heyn's privateer fleet and according to witnesses attempted to avoid contact. Benavides claimed that he had attacked the Dutch fleet, but in real his ships were boarded by the Dutch before they could fire a single cannon. The Spanish Galleons were loaded with so much treasure that they had blocked many of their gun ports, making it impossible to effectively engage the Dutch privateers. Heyn's men quickly boarded the Spanish ships right in view of Havana, looted the valuable cargo for several days before sailing back to the Netherlands with over 34 tons of silver. Along with him he took around fifteen captured Spanish ships as well as his original fleet. The rest of the Spanish fleet was burned in Havana harbor.

When the battle had begun Benavides had deserted his ship in a row boat and was heading for the shore. He later testified that he had given orders for the ships to be burned and evacuated.

Heyn returned to the Netherlands as a hero, Benavides and de Loez were tried for cowardice and desertion. Benavides was beheaded and de Loez imprisoned for life.

Heyn enjoyed his status as Dutch hero for a few years. In March 1629, Hein received command of the Dutch navy being the first admiral who did not belong to the nobility. Hein was mortally wounded while attacking the pirates from Dunkirk and Ostend under Spanish commission on June 18th, 1629.

http://www.aschulze.net/pirates/bios/bio25.htm

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

For me, Henry Every without question. His attack on the Gang-i-sawai which was the treasure ship of the Mogul of India was one of the most successful pirate attack in history and a huge haul was in the bag. Each member of the crew recieved 1,000 pounds which was 80 years of normal seaman wages He was the only real pirate to survive to enjoy his plunder, apparently dying peacefully in Ireland

[Rosacrux]

Jack Sparrow, Go my Man http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Mouzafphaerre]

-
Me http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif
_

[chunkynut]

Come on, Drake had the weather do his bidding he was obviously Gods chosen pirate http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[Malcolm Big Head]

Morgan-Like his rum.

[SwordsMaster]

Jack Sparrow. Gah

REmember that?

"Ah, but you have heard of me".

[Leet Eriksson]

Blackbeard,i don't know anything of him,but i have to admit he has the coolest name.

[Mouzafphaerre]

Quote[/b] (faisal @ May 21 2004,16:42)]Blackbeard,i don't know anything of him,but i have to admit he has the coolest name.
-
Here is a great resource on collected pirate/privateer/seafarer biographies:

http://www.thefist.org/yabbse/index.php?action=subboard;subid=45

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif
_

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Drake, even thought he WASN'T A PIRATE

[Leet Eriksson]

Quote[/b] (Mouzafphaerre @ May 21 2004,10:05)]
Quote[/b] (faisal @ May 21 2004,16:42)]Blackbeard,i don't know anything of him,but i have to admit he has the coolest name.
-
Here is a great resource on collected pirate/privateer/seafarer biographies:

http://www.thefist.org/yabbse/index.php?action=subboard;subid=45

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif
_
That was informative thanks for the link Mouzaphaerre http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[The Wizard]

Quote[/b] (Caporegime1984 @ May 21 2004,20:10)]Drake, even thought he WASN'T A PIRATE
Like Piet Heyn was for Holland, Drake was a pirate undertaking piracy with a 'contract', in effect piracy made legal, but a pirate working under her Majesty's (or the Regent of Holland, for that matter) consent was expected not to attack English ships... or Dutch, if you're talking about Piet Heyn.

Go Piet Heyn, you practically financed our victories over the Spanish and English http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif



~Wiz

[Longshanks]

All of the above where pirates including Drake. Granted, they may have been acting in accordance with the law according to their mother countries, but they were pirates nonetheless. That's certainly how the Spanish civilians, soldiers and sailors who were tortured and killed would have viewed them.

Is Hizbollah any less of a terrorist organization just because Iran doesn't consider them so? It's basically the same thing. If Drake had been Spanish and attacking British shipping and towns no doubt the English would have been calling him a pirate. (while the Spanish would have handed him a Letter of Marque and called him a privateer)

They are only pirates when they aren't your pirates. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Heres some interesting stuff on Drake

[Url}http://www.mcn.org/2/oseeler/drake.htm[/url]

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Sorry about the previous link but as the Mods in their infinite wisdom have taken away my ability to edit because of my outlandish and extremely inflamatory postings I couldnt fix it so here goes again


http://www.mcn.org/2/oseeler/drake.htm

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Bravest pirate fight was when another english seadog Richard Grenville fought to the end against nearly twenty spanish ships of the Azores when cut off from the English fleet in 1591. He was killed and most of his crew but they fought off all bording attempts. They were simply battered into submission http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

[Tribesman]

Grace O'Malley , Pirate Queen of the West http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Erm, saying Drake was a Pirate is like saying Nelson was a Pirate.
And don't give me any of that Spainiard tortured stuff.
They tried to invade England, they got what they deserved. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif
-Capo

[The Sword of Cao Cao]

Cheng I Sao


She, was kidnapped by the Wakou, or Japanese pirates. She was married to a Wakou "captain" and the Wakou trained her in the arts of piracy. She soon excelled them. She killed her forced-to-marry Wakou husband, and became the Queen of the Oriental Seaways. She now commanded both the vicious Wakou and the Chinese pirates as well as the notorious Toi, (Korean Pirates). Her crew was said to be seen carrying 6 severed heads over thier shoulder holding them by the queus.. She rewarded each of her men by how many heads he brought back. She died old, of natural age and VERY rich. She died perfectly happy too. This just goes to prove, crime does in fact pay if your good at it.

[Tribesman]

Quote[/b] ]Erm, saying Drake was a Pirate is like saying Nelson was a Pirate.
And don't give me any of that Spainiard tortured stuff.
They tried to invade England, they got what they deserved.
-Capo

Not really , there is a vast difference in naval warfare between Drakes era and Nelsons , On an organisational level , rules of engagement and patronage . Quite a lot changes over the centuries .
They got what they deserved when they tried to invade England , bad weather http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Maybe, but Drake did command a fleet. And he did repel the Spanish.
I did a report on him a while back. He could be considered a pirate, but only if you look at it on the Spainish point of view, who basically viewed all englishmen as pirates.
-Capo

[Tribesman]

Capo of the 197 ships employed by the British , only 34 were navy ships , the rest could be classed as pirates , so maybe the Spanish had a point. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif