Samuel Inless (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1698–1699) was a pirate captain in 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 ...

, best known for serving as Captain over

Nathaniel North Nathaniel North (ca. 1671 - ca. 171?) was a Bermuda-born pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy, operating in the Indian Ocean under John Bowen (pirate), John Bowen and then as captain of the ''Defiant'' following Bowen's retirement in 1704. Aft ...

and George Booth.

History

When captain Robert Colley of the ''Pelican'' took ill and died in 1698, his crew (which included future captains

and George Booth) elected ship's cooper Joseph Wheeler as captain. They sailed briefly with

Dirk Chivers Dirk Chivers (, last name occasionally Shivers) was a Dutch pirate active in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Early career Dirk Chivers is first recorded as a crew member of the ''Portsmouth Adventure'', , under Captain Joseph Faro (or Farrell) around ...

and

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 ...

, then sailed alone to take three ships off India's

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 ...

, keeping a 26-gun ship and renaming it ''Dolphin''. Near Mascarenas a hurricane dismasted their ships, so they returned to Île Sainte-Marie near

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 ...

to make repairs and divide their loot. They found Culliford and Chivers again, alongside several merchantmen. Wheeler and some of the Dolphin's crew gave up piracy and returned with the merchantmen. The rest of the crew elected island resident Samuel Inless as the ''Dolphin’s'' new captain. Inless retained Nathaniel North as quartermaster and George Booth as gunner. Sailing for the

Straits of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...

they took several small Moorish ships which were “but of little value to them.” Finally in 1699 they captured a large Danish ship, which they took to the Nicobars for use in careening the ''Dolphin''. They returned to Saint Mary's to divide the plunder, amounting to £400 per share. Shortly afterwards a squadron of British warships under Commodore Thomas Warren arrived, offering clemency to all pirates who renounced their ways. Culliford and some others accepted the offer; North fled in a longboat, later joining John Halsey, and Booth escaped to sail with John Bowen. Inless himself refused the pardon and burned the ''Dolphin'', but his ultimate fate is unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inless, Samuel Year of birth missing Year of death missing Caribbean pirates 18th-century pirates Piracy in the Indian Ocean

History

See also

References