By Manushag N. Powell, Purdue University
What do we know about pirates and their tactics? The popular opinion is that pirates were sneaky, lying, deceptive thieves. They were best avoided, but more often than not, they let their victims go after taking or ruining their possessions. If that’s accurate, then the extent of the damage is worth looking back.
Did Pirates Not Attack Women?
Pirates were also often willing to use violence against the rare woman who fell into their power, although, again, not always. According to Charles Johnson, Captain John Phillips sailed under articles that included, “If at any time you meet with a prudent woman, that man that offers to meddle with her without her consent shall suffer present death.” But what is a prudent woman? The word prudent here has the sense of circumspect. It’s a judgment as to the woman’s status and background as well, to some extent of her appearance presumably.
For instance, the 1695 assault of Henry Every’s crew upon the Muslim women they captured in the Ganj-i-sawai, is well documented. In that brutal case, social economic status mattered far less than the fact that the women were non-Christian, as in the early 18th century, religious identification was something like a racial category. Complexion and geography were also factors in making women more vulnerable to pirates. Red Sea Rovers, who were resting in Madagascar, also repeatedly made things difficult for themselves by insulting local women.
Not Just Looting, but Also Destroying
More regularly, the act of piracy itself took place between men, or more specifically, between men and property. They “practiced violence against the prizes ship cargo”, to borrow historian Marcus Rediker’s phrase dismaying the owners and captains by looting breaking open, slashing and overturning anything in their reach.
Richard Hawkins was the captain of a vessel that was carrying log wood on its way to Jamaica when it was captured by pirates in 1724. He was aghast that the pirates seized not only all his arms and ammunition and his new anchor and hawser—understandable if upsetting, but also just destroyed things, “Everything that pleased them not, they threw over-board. All my compasses, instruments, books, Escritoire, Binaicle…broke all my windows, knocked down the cabin.” And burned most of his log wood. When the poor Captain Hawkins ran into them a second time, having nothing left to destroy, they got drunk and burned the ship, apparently just to vent their frustration.
Black and Red Flags
Pirates also manipulated their prey through the cunning use of flags. Privateering pirates with delusions of respectability, like Henry Morgan, William Kidd or Francis Drake, flew the St. George’s Cross most of the time to back up the stance that they were privateers, or at least acting only against the enemies of England.
They also included Red Ensign’s from time to time or, after 1715 or so any number of black Jolly Roger designs. The basic difference between the red flag and the black flag was that the former was meant to intimidate the prey into immediate surrender while the black flag more generally proclaimed ill intent. Prior to the development of the Jolly Roger, a pirate would typically use a national flag, perhaps the flag of his nation.
This article comes directly from content in the video series The Real History of Pirates. Watch it now, on Wondrium.
Pirates Used Flags to Manipulate Ships
The point of a nautical flag is to make you identifiable to other ships, and a ship planning an attack doesn’t necessarily want to be identified too soon.
Flags were hard to see at a distance, or at least the ship would be visible well before its colors were, and flags might be taken in for any number of reasons, including the weather. But if one ship flashed her colors and the other declined to do that, that was not a good sign.
It should be noted that the use of ‘false flags’ was normal in seafighting with or without pirates. Because of that issue of weather gage, for one thing, it behooved to ship often to conceal its identity in the presence of a stranger, until it had the wind in the right direction and could run if needed or attack when ready.
Oddly, though, it was a point of honor to run up the correct flag before actually firing. Even pirates often did this, although at other times both pirates and non-pirates would try to maintain the deception long after the battle had begun.
All ships had reason to approach one another with caution, and not only due to the fear of pirates. During times of war, which were frequent, any vessel might be of an enemy and might be sailing under a false flag for protection or aggression.
Surprise Attacks by Pirates
Stealth was an important tool in the pirate’s arsenal. It was important to see another ship before she saw you. Many pirate articles promised bonuses to the lookout, who was first to see a potential prize. The earlier a pirate made its prey feel alarmed, the worst the odds of catching her if she ran. Pursuit in the wide ocean could easily take hours, as both ships were propelled by the same wind at similar speeds. And if the chase could be fended off until nightfall, it was very easy to lose track of even one’s allies in the dark.
Surprise attacks were best because they did less damage than firing or large-scale boarding or any combination of the two. Small forces could capture much larger ones if they could sneak aboard and quickly subdue the captain and its officers.
Common Questions about Tactics That Pirates Used in Their Attacks
The basic difference between the red and black flags of the pirates was that the former was meant to intimidate the prey into immediate surrender while the black flag more generally proclaimed ill intent.
The use of ‘false flags’ was normal in seafighting with or without pirates. Because of the issue of weather gage, for one thing, it behooved to a ship often to conceal its identity in the presence of a stranger, until it had the wind in the right direction and could run if needed or attack when ready.
Surprise attacks by the pirates were most favored because they did less damage than firing or large-scale boarding or any combination of the two. Small forces could capture much larger ones if they could sneak aboard and quickly subdue the captain and officers.
