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Battle Of Cape Lopez
The Battle of Cape Lopez was fought in early 1722 during the Golden Age of Piracy. A Royal Navy man-of-war under Captain Chaloner Ogle defeated the pirate ship of Bartholomew Roberts off the coast of Gabon, West Africa. Background Roberts was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age; he captured well over 400 vessels ranging from small fishing boats to large frigates. In April 1721, Roberts, also known as "Black Bart", was sailing the coast of Martinique when he came across a French frigate of fifty-two guns and captured her. Aboard the vessel was the governor of the French colony who was hanged by Roberts from the yardarm of his ship. This act proved to be his downfall as it was apparently the final straw. In retaliation for Black Bart's repeated attacks on fleets of merchant ships and his killing of the governor, the French Navy and the Royal Navy dispatched several warships to hunt the pirates. Roberts and his men captured the two French warships off the Senegal Rivers mout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Age Of Piracy
The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean, North America, and West Africa. Histories of piracy often subdivide the Golden Age of Piracy into three periods: # The buccaneering period (approximately 1650 to 1680), characterized by Anglo-French seamen based in Jamaica and Tortuga attacking Spanish colonies, and shipping in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. # The Pirate Round (1690s), associated with long-distance voyages from the Americas to rob Muslim and East India Company targets in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. # The post-Spanish Succession period (1715 to 1726), when Anglo-American sailors and privateers left unemployed by the end of the War of the Spanish Succession turned en masse to piracy in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the North American eastern seaboard, and the West African coast. Narrower defi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in the world, ranking seventh in combined fleet tonnage and fifth in number of naval vessels. The French Navy is one of eight naval forces currently operating fixed-wing aircraft carriers,Along with the U.S., U.K., China, Russia, Italy, India and Spain with its flagship being the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier outside the United States Navy, and one of two non-American vessels to use catapults to launch aircraft. Founded in the 17th century, the French Navy is one of the oldest navies still in continual service, with precursors dating back to the Middle Ages. It has taken part in key events in French history, including the Napoleonic Wars and both world wars, and played a critical role in establishing and securing the French colonial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prize Ship
In admiralty law prizes are equipment, vehicles, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of ''prize'' in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and her cargo as a prize of war. In the past, the capturing force would commonly be allotted a share of the worth of the captured prize. Nations often granted letters of marque that would entitle private parties to capture enemy property, usually ships. Once the ship was secured on friendly territory, she would be made the subject of a prize case: an ''in rem'' proceeding in which the court determined the status of the condemned property and the manner in which the property was to be disposed of. History and sources of prize law In his book ''The Prize Game'', Donald Petrie writes, "at the outset, prize taking was all smash and grab, like breaking a jeweler's window, but by the fifteenth century a body of guiding rules, the maritime law of nations, had begun to evolve and achieve international recogn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Ensign
The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign due to the simultaneous existence of a cross-less version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field, identical to the flag of England except with the Union Flag in the upper canton. The White Ensign is also worn by yachts of members of the Royal Yacht Squadron and by ships of Trinity House escorting the reigning monarch. In addition to the United Kingdom, several other nations have variants of the White Ensign with their own national flags in the canton, with the St George's Cross sometimes being replaced by a naval badge omitting the cross altogether. Yachts of the Royal Irish Yacht Club wear a white ensign with an Irish tricolour in the first quadrant and defaced by the crowned harp from the Heraldic Badge of Ireland. The Flag of the British Antarctic Territory and the Commissioners' flag of the Northern Lighthouse Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Skyrme
James Skyrme (died 1722, last name occasionally Skyrm) was a Welsh pirate best known for Captaining two of Bartholomew Roberts’ prize ships. History In the summer of 1720 James Skyrme sailed from Bristol as first mate of ''Greyhound''. That October off St. Lucia Bartholomew Roberts took over a dozen vessels, ''Greyhound'' included. Captured, Skyrme signed their Articles and joined Roberts’ crew while Roberts burned ''Greyhound''. Two French ships attacked Roberts in April 1721, but were themselves captured by the pirates. Renaming the vessels, Roberts gave command of ''Ranger'' to Thomas Sutton and gave Skyrme ''Little Ranger'', which Roberts used as a storeship. Sailing alongside Roberts, they captured a number of other ships and their crews. Later that year Roberts put into Cape Lopez to careen, replacing Sutton with Skyrme as captain of ''Ranger''. In February 1722 Captain Chaloner Ogle of HMS ''Swallow'' baited Roberts into attacking his 50-gun warship. Mistaking it f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandbar
In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It often refers to those submerged ridges, banks, or bars that rise near enough to the surface of a body of water as to constitute a danger to navigation. Shoals are also known as sandbanks, sandbars, or gravelbars. Two or more shoals that are either separated by shared crest and trough, troughs or interconnected by past or present sedimentary and hydrographic processes are referred to as a shoal complex.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) ''Glossary of Geology'' (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 779 pp. The term ''shoal'' is also used in a number of ways that can be either similar or quite different from how it is used in geologic, geomorphic, and ocea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Weymouth (1693)
HMS ''Weymouth'' was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 8 August 1693. She was rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard according to the 1706 Establishment The 1706 Establishment was the first formal set of dimensions for ships of the Royal Navy. Two previous sets of dimensions had existed before, though these were only for specific shipbuilding programs running for only a given amount of time. In c ..., relaunching on 26 February 1719. ''Weymouth'' continued to serve until 1732, when she was broken up. Notes References *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850''. Conway Maritime Press. . Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1690s ships {{UK-line-ship-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Swallow (1703)
HMS ''Swallow'' was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 10 February 1703. ''Swallow'' was rebuilt according to the 1706 Establishment at Chatham Dockyard, and was relaunched on 25 March 1719. Captain Chaloner Ogle commanded ''Swallow'' off the West African coast from 1721 and the following year engaged and defeated several pirate ships. Their commander Bartholomew Roberts was killed, and Ogle received a knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ... for his actions. ''Swallow'' continued to serve until 1728, when she was broken up. Notes References *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850''. Conway Maritime Press. . Captured shi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fourth-rate
In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided into three tiers, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth rates. Up to the end of the 17th century the number of guns and the compliment size was adjusted until the rating system was actually clarified. A 'Fourth Rate' was nominally a ship of over thirty guns with a complement of 140 men. In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorize sailing warships in the 18th century, a fourth-rate was a ship of the line with 46 to 60 guns mounted. They were phased out of ship of the line service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as their usefulness was declining; though they were still in service, especially on distant stations such as the East Indies. ''Fourth-rates'' took many forms, initially as small two decked warships, later as larg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Careen
Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the hull of a sailing vessel without the use of a dry dock. It is used for cleaning or repairing the hull. Before ship's hulls were protected from biofouling, marine growth by fastening copper sheets over the surface of the hull, fouling by this growth would seriously affect the sailing qualities of a ship, causing a large amount of drag. Practice The vessel is grounded broadside onto a steep beach and then pulled over with tackles from the mastheads to strong points on the beach. This brings one side of the hull out of the water. Careening may be assisted by moving ballast to one side of the hull. When work was complete on one side, the ship would be floated off and the process repeated on the other side. A beach favoured for careening was called a careenage. Today, only small vessels are careened, while large vessels are placed in dry dock. A related practice was a Parliamentary heel, in which the vessel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Africa Company
The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the west coast of Africa. It was led by the Duke of York, who was the brother of King Charles II and in 1685, York took the throne as James II. It was established after Charles II gained the English throne in the Restoration of 1660. While its original purpose was to exploit the gold fields up the Gambia River, which were identified by Prince Rupert during the Interregnum, it soon developed and led a brutal and sustained slave trade. It also extracted other commodities, mainly from the Gold Coast. After becoming insolvent in 1708, it survived in a state of much reduced activity until 1752 when its assets were transferred to the new African Company of Merchants, which lasted until 1821. History Background In the 17th century the settlements on the west coast of Africa, though they had an important trade of their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pepper Coast
The Pepper Coast or Grain Coast was a coastal area of western Africa, between Cape Mesurado and Cape Palmas. It encloses the present republic of Liberia. The name was given by European traders. Origin of the name The Pepper Coast got its name from the availability in the region of the melegueta pepper (''Aframomum melegueta''), also known as the "grain of paradise", which in turn gave rise to an alternative name, the Grain Coast. The importance of the spice is shown by the designation of the area from the Saint John River (Liberia), Saint John River (at present-day Buchanan, Liberia, Buchanan) to Harper in Liberia as the "Grain Coast", in reference to the availability of grains of paradise. In some cases (as shown on the map pictured above), this term covers a wider area incorporating Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. See also *Slave Coast of West Africa *Gold Coast (region) *Guinea (region) *Windward Coast References Geography of Liberia Pepper trade Regions of Africa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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