historical
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Henry Every
Henry Every was an English pirate best known for capturing the Mughal treasure ship Ganj-i-Sawai in the Indian Ocean in 1695, one of the most lucrative pirate raids in history. The attack provoked a diplomatic crisis between England and the Mughal Empire and triggered one of the first worldwide manhunts by the English crown. Every…
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William Kidd
William Kidd was a Scottish sailor originally commissioned as a privateer to hunt pirates and enemy French shipping in the Indian Ocean. His capture of the Quedagh Merchant in 1698 was disputed as unlawful piracy, and he was arrested on his return to the American colonies. He was tried and executed in London in 1701;…
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Samuel Bellamy
Samuel Bellamy was an English-born pirate who commanded the Whydah Gally, a captured slave ship, making him briefly one of the wealthiest pirates of the era. He is reputed to have reduced corporal punishment aboard his ship and expressed populist views on class and law. He and most of his crew died when the Whydah…
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Howell Davis
Howell Davis was a Welsh pirate known for capturing ships through deception and impersonation, including posing as a legitimate merchant captain to seize forts and vessels off West Africa. Bartholomew Roberts served under him before succeeding him as captain. Davis was killed in an ambush set by Portuguese colonial forces on the island of Príncipe…
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Thomas Tew
Thomas Tew was an English pirate credited with pioneering the ‘Pirate Round,’ a sailing route from the American colonies to the Indian Ocean to raid richly laden ships. His enormously profitable 1693 voyage inspired many others to follow the same route. Tew was killed during a second Red Sea raid in 1695 when he was…
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Christopher Moody
Christopher Moody was an English pirate who sailed for a time as his own captain before joining Bartholomew Roberts’s fleet. He is notable for his early use of a red (‘bloody’) flag design featuring a winged hourglass and skeleton arm with dagger, distinct from the more common black Jolly Roger. He was captured with much…
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George Lowther
George Lowther was an English pirate active in the Caribbean and off West Africa, whose crew included Edward Low before Low broke away to command his own ship. Lowther preyed on merchant shipping for roughly two years. His pirate career ended in 1723 when his ship was discovered while careening; he reportedly shot himself rather…
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Israel Hands
Israel Hands served as a lieutenant and reputed pilot under Blackbeard aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge. According to contemporary accounts, Blackbeard shot him in the knee during a drunken shipboard incident, permanently crippling him. He was later captured but avoided execution by testifying against a corrupt colonial official, and general accounts suggest he lived out…
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John Cockram
John Cockram was a pirate and trader associated with Benjamin Hornigold’s group operating out of Nassau in the Bahamas. After accepting the 1718 royal pardon, he helped Governor Woodes Rogers pursue pirates who refused to reform, including sailing against John Augur’s crew. Detailed records of his earlier and later life are sparse.
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Olivier Levasseur
Olivier Levasseur, nicknamed La Buse for his ferocity in attack, was a French pirate active in the Caribbean and later the Indian Ocean around Madagascar. He is credited, alongside John Taylor, with the 1721 capture of the Portuguese ship Nossa Senhora do Cabo, one of the richest prizes in pirate history. He was captured and…