:''

Cinque Ports The Confederation of Cinque Ports () is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier (Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to th ...

is also the name for a group of five English port towns, the

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

of this ship.'' ''Cinque Ports'' was an English ship whose

sailing master The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel. The rank can be equated to a professional seaman and specialist in navigation, rather than as a military ...

was

Alexander Selkirk Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island i ...

, generally accepted as a model for the fictional

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

. The ship was part of a 1703 expedition commanded by

William Dampier William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnav ...

, who

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

ed the accompanying ship, the 26-gun ''St George'' with a complement of 120 men. When the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

broke out in 1701, English

privateers A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

were recruited to act against French and Spanish interests. Despite a

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

for cruelty to one of his crew in an earlier voyage,"William Dampier, Captain, HMS ''Roebuck'', Royal Navy Court Martial"
The National Archives (8 June 1702). Dampier was granted command of the two-ship expedition which departed England on 30 April 1703 for the port of

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...

in Ireland.

Fateful voyage

's original companions dropped out of the scheme and a new agreement was made with Captain Charles Pickering of ''Cinque Ports''. ''Cinque Ports'' was fitted out with 16 guns and a crew of 63. The two ships left Kinsale on 11 September 1703 with the intention of attacking Spanish

galleons Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wa ...

returning from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. When this plan fell through the privateers decided to make for the South Sea by way of

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

. While the ships were off the coast of Brazil, an outbreak of

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

on board ''Cinque Ports'' led to the deaths of a number of men, including the

who was replaced by 21-year-old Lieutenant Thomas Stradling. Malpelo island NOAA

After rounding the Horn and cruising up the South American coast as far as Panama, capturing several Spanish ships on the way, the two captains decided to separate. Captain Stradling stopped at one of the islands of the

Juan Fernández Archipelago ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

off the Chilean coast in September 1704 to resupply. There was a dispute between Stradling and

regarding ''Cinque Ports'' seaworthiness, and Selkirk impetuously chose to be put ashore on the uninhabited island. Selkirk remained on Juan Fernández in solitude for four years and four months, before being rescued by

Woodes Rogers Woodes Rogers ( 1679 – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer, Atlantic slave trade, slave trader and, from 1718, the first List of colonial heads of the Bahamas, Royal Governor of the Bahamas. He is known as the captain of ...

in 1709. His experience was one of the likely sources of inspiration for the character

in the novel by

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

. Selkirk's suspicions were soon justified, as ''Cinque Ports'' foundered near

Malpelo Island Malpelo is a small oceanic island in the eastern Pacific Ocean, located about west of the Colombian mainland with a military post manned by the Colombian Armed Forces. It consists of a sheer and barren rock with three high peaks, the highest ...

from the coast of what is now Colombia; Stradling and the surviving members of his crew were taken prisoner by the Spanish.

Aftermath

An eyewitness account of the last voyage of ''Cinque Ports'' was published by William Funnell, an officer on board ''St George'', who went on to

circumnavigate Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

the globe after abandoning Dampier in January 1705. The owners of ''Cinque Ports'' subsequently took legal action against Dampier over the loss of their ship. According to a deposition given by Selkirk on 18 July 1712, Dampier's failure to advise the owners to have ''Cinque Ports'' and ''St George'' covered in protective wood sheathing had resulted in "the loss of both ships, for they perished by being

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...

eaten." Other witnesses supported this allegation. The shipowners would be disappointed, however, as Dampier died in 1715, leaving nothing but debts.

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

"Alexander Selkirk and the Voyage of the Cinque Ports Galley"
at

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

(2004), part of ''Black Presence: Asian and Black History in Britain, 1500–1850'' exhibition
"On a Piece of Stone: Alexander Selkirk on Greater Land"
by Edward E. Leslie (1988) in ''Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True Stories of Castaways and Other Survivors'' (pp. 61–85) {{pirates , state=collapsed 1700s ships Privateer ships of Great Britain Maritime incidents in 1704