''Adventure Galley'', also known as ''Adventure'', was an English
merchant ship
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are u ...
captained by Scottish sea captain
William Kidd
William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd ( – 23 May 1701), was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and had experience as a pirate. He was tried and executed in London in 1701 for murder a ...
. She was a type of hybrid ship that combined
square rig
Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and ...
ged sails with oars to give her manoeuvrability in both windy and calm conditions. The vessel was launched at the end of 1695 and was acquired by Kidd the following year to serve in his privateering venture. Between April 1696 and April 1698, she travelled thousands of miles across the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
and
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
s in search of pirates but failed to find any until nearly the end of her travels. Instead, Kidd himself turned pirate in desperation at not having obtained any prizes. ''Adventure Galley'' succeeded in capturing two vessels off
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and brought them back to
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, but by the spring of 1698 the ship's hull had become so rotten and leaky that she was no longer seaworthy. She was stripped of anything movable and sunk off the north-eastern coast of Madagascar. Her remains have not yet been located.
Design and purchase
The vessel was acquired for Kidd by a consortium of investors who backed a scheme to hunt down pirates, recover their booty and redistribute it among the investors. He had enlisted the support of
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont (sometimes spelled Bellamont, 1636 – 5 March 1700/01In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on 25 March. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in us ...
and governor-general of the British
Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...
and the ambitious
Robert Livingston the Younger
Robert Livingston the Younger (1663 – April 1725), sometimes known as Robert Livingston Jr., or The Nephew was a wealthy merchant and political figure in colonial Albany, New York.
Early life
Livingston was born in 1663 in Edinburgh, Scotland ...
, who later became the mayor of
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
. With Coote's backing, Kidd obtained a commission from
King William III
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...
to operate as a privateer. The other investors who came aboard the scheme after it met with the king's approval were the
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...
, the
Earl of Romney
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
, the
Duke of Shrewsbury
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
, the
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
, Sir Edmund Harrison and John Somers. The king himself was not an investor but was nonetheless entitled to one tenth of the proceeds.
![The Charles Galley-Willem van de Velde the Younger-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/The_Charles_Galley-Willem_van_de_Velde_the_Younger-2.jpg)
The vessel was purchased for £8,000 (£ today) in August 1696.
[ Donnelly, p. 10] She had been launched on 4 December 1695 from Captain William Castle's dockyard in
Deptford
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...
on the outskirts of
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
Graham
Graham and Graeme may refer to:
People
* Graham (given name), an English-language given name
* Graham (surname), an English-language surname
* Graeme (surname), an English-language surname
* Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer
* Clan ...
, p. 106 Her design combined sails and oars, an unusual combination for warships at that time, that incorporated three
ship-rigged
A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three s ...
masts and two banks of oars. This allowed her to make under full sail and under oar. Although rowing was slow it enabled the ship to manoeuvre against the wind, or in calm conditions where other vessels that relied on sails alone could not make any progress.
A number of British warships had been built to similar designs following the lessons learned from the wars against the
Barbary pirates
The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...
of
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, whose galleys had proved formidable opponents, and trading companies such as the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
(EIC) also built oared frigates.
Castle's yard, where ''Adventure Galley'' was built, was one of the largest private shipyards in England and was a supplier of vessels to the EIC.
''Adventure Galley'' was well-armed with a complement of 32 guns (
saker
Saker may refer to:
* Saker falcon (''Falco cherrug''), a species of falcon
* Saker (cannon), a type of cannon
* Saker Baptist College, an all-girls secondary school in Limbe, Cameroon
* Grupo Saker-Ti, a Guatemalan writers group formed in 1947
* ...
or light
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
).
It is not clear whether she was in fact a new vessel or had originally been intended for the navy; she may have been a commercial vessel under refit at Castle's yard before she was acquired by Kidd's consortium. She does not appear to have been particularly well-built, to judge from the problems that Kidd faced with her seaworthiness during her short career in his service. It was not uncommon for shipyards to cut corners and use sub-standard materials, and to pocket the difference in costs as extra profit.
Graham
Graham and Graeme may refer to:
People
* Graham (given name), an English-language given name
* Graham (surname), an English-language surname
* Graeme (surname), an English-language surname
* Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer
* Clan ...
, p. 107 Although no picture has survived of ''Adventure Galley'',
HMS ''Charles Galley'', which was recorded in contemporary paintings, provides a good example of how the English adapted the oared frigate design for warfare.
Voyages of ''Adventure Galley''
![Adventure Galley journey map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Adventure_Galley_journey_map.png)
After leaving Deptford on 6 April 1696, Kidd brought ''Adventure Galley'' along the coast to
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
in south-western England. He set sail from there on 23 April, bound for New York, and reached the city around 4 July. The ship was accompanied by a French fishing vessel that Kidd captured during the Atlantic crossing. He had the French boat condemned in New York as
prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements. , and recruited more crewmen and set sail again on 6 September, heading for the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
. ''Adventure Galley'' called at
Madeira
)
, anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira")
, song_type = Regional anthem
, image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg
, map_alt=Location of Madeira
, map_caption=Location of Madeira
, subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
(reached on 8 October) and
Boa Vista, Cape Verde
Boa Vista (Portuguese for "good view"), also written as Boavista, is a desert-like island that belongs to the Cape Verde Islands. At , it is the third largest island of the Cape Verde archipelago.
The island of Boa Vista is closer to the Africa ...
(on 19 October) to pick up supplies ''en route''.
[ Kidd's Narrative, p. 82] The long voyage down the western coast of Africa and around the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
took the rest of the year and it was not until 27 January 1697 that ''Adventure Galley'' made landfall at Tuléar (now
Toliara
Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar.
It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo.
The current spelling of the name was adopted ...
),
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
.
By this time ''Adventure Galley'' was in need of fresh sail and rigging. The fact that the ship's existing supplies had barely lasted eight months suggests that the dockyard may have installed substandard equipment. After staying a month in Tuléar, ''Adventure Galley'' sailed on to Johanna (now
Anjouan
Anjouan (; also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and historically as Johanna or Hinzuan) is an autonomous high island in the Indian Ocean that forms part of the Union of the Comoros. Its chief town is Mutsamudu and, , its population is around 277,500. ...
) in the
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
on 18 March, where East India Company ships often refitted. However, Kidd was unable to obtain credit from local merchants to buy new rigging or sails, and chose instead to take ''Adventure Galley'' to another island – either
Mayotte
Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loc ...
or
Mohéli
Mohéli , also known as Mwali, is an autonomous island that forms part of the Comoros, Union of the Comoros. It is the smallest of the three major islands in the country. It is located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa and it is the sma ...
– for
careening
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 marine growth by fasteni ...
, to clean her hull of encrusted barnacles and weeds. This was accomplished successfully over the course of a month but up to a third of her crew died in an outbreak of an epidemic disease, possibly
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
or
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
. Kidd sailed back to Johanna to find replacement crewmen and this time was able to raise the credit for new sails and rigging.
According to Kidd's testimony, he "steered for India" on 25 April 1697.
By now he was a year out of London and had no prize money to show for his efforts. He had failed to find any pirates and turned his own hand to piracy. ''Adventure Galley'' did not go immediately to India but travelled to the
Bab el-Mandeb
The Bab-el-Mandeb (Arabic: , , ) is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Name
The strait derives its name from the dangers attendin ...
strait at the mouth of the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
, where she is said to have unsuccessfully tried to attack a
Mughal convoy. In September 1697, ''Adventure Galley'' arrived on the
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...
of India, where Kidd finally managed to capture two ships travelling under French passes – a pair of merchantmen, ''Rouparelle'' and ''Quedah Merchant''. Unfortunately for Kidd, the latter ship was captained by an Englishman and when news of her capture reached London he was publicly condemned as a pirate.
''Adventure Galley'' next and final stage of her voyage took her to the
Île Sainte-Marie
Nosy Boraha , previously known as Sainte-Marie, main town Ambodifotatra, is an island off the east coast of Madagascar. The island forms an administrative district within Analanjirofo Region, and covers an area of 222 km2.
It has a popula ...
, a pirate haven off the north-east coast of Madagascar. By now, according to Kidd's narrative, "his gally was very leaky",
probably because of a rotten hull. The ship arrived there about 1 April, accompanied by the ''Rouparelle'' (renamed ''November'') and ''Quedah Merchant'' (renamed ''Adventure Prize''). On arrival, most of the crew promptly deserted to another pirate captain,
Robert Culliford
Robert Culliford (c. 1666 - ?, last name occasionally Collover) was a pirate from Cornwall who is best remembered for repeatedly ''checking the designs'' of Captain William Kidd.
Early career and capture
Culliford and Kidd first met as shipmates ...
and sank ''November''. Kidd was left with only thirteen men to crew ''Adventure Prize'' and the now-unseaworthy ''Adventure Galley''. According to one of her crew, William Jenkins, after the rest of the crew had deserted Kidd "run ''Adventure Galley'' on shoar in Madagascar. They stript her furnishings and set her on fire to get her iron worke." This is contradicted by Kidd's own account, which stated that his skeleton crew "could not keep the galley from sinking, and went on board of the prize
.e. ''Quedah Merchant''"
No more is currently known about the ship's fate and last position. The
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
commissioned
Barry Clifford
Barry Clifford (born May 30, 1945) is an American underwater archaeological explorer, best known for discovering the remains of Samuel Bellamy's wrecked pirate ship ''Whydah'' ronounced ''wih-duh'' the only fully verified and authenticated pirat ...
, a well-known underwater explorer, to find ''Adventure Galley'' as part of its "Quest" series in 1999–2000. He identified what were believed to be the wrecks of ''Adventure Galley'' and ''Rouparelle/November'', as well as Culliford's ''Mocha Frigate'',
William Condon's ''Flying Dragon'' and Captain Chivers' ''New Soldado''. Excavations recovered timbers made from English oak and a few scanty artifacts which were identified by Clifford as coming from ''Adventure Galley''. In 2015, Clifford recovered a metal bar from the site, which was marked with the letters S and T and was claimed to be made of silver. The accuracy of Clifford's conclusions about the wrecks remain debated in the scientific community. A
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
expert team subsequently rejected Clifford's conclusions, declaring the apparent shipwreck site to be only a broken part of the port constructions and identifying the metal bar as being 95% lead and probably a piece of ballast.
References
Bibliography
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{{Pirates
Pirate ships
Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean
Privateer ships
1650s ships
Ships built in Deptford
1999 archaeological discoveries
William Kidd