by Pat Croce
Once the command to fire is given, the fuse is lit and BOOM!
Although a typical four-pounder can fire a roundshot (cannonball) about a thousand yards, maximum accuracy is only about five hundred feet, so all shots must be properly positioned.
The loading and firing routine is repeated over and over and over again until the prey surrenders or the gun crew runs out of ammunition.
[ fig. 20 ] FIRING A CANNON
If all goes well, this barrage of sound and barbarism will cause the prey vessel to strike her colors, signifying her submission. However, while we prefer to capture a prize without a fight—avoiding the many gruesome injuries that go hand in hand with battles at sea, not to mention the very real possibility of having our ship damaged to the point of sinking, thereby scattering our hard-earned plunder across the ocean floor—we are ready, willing, and most certainly able to attack and slaughter anything and everything in our path.
If the prey refuses to strike her colors, we often hoist a red flag, declaring no quarter. Immediately, our pirate vessel will unleash her great guns, intent on destroying the prize ship’s mast—to prevent her from escaping—as well as to cause as much topside damage as possible, for sinking the ship would be a foolish undertaking; the prize is far more valuable afloat than in Neptune’s garden, to be used as another pirate ship or sold/traded later on.
When in small-arms range, the harassment will intensify via strategic musket fire, targeting the navigator and gun crews to prevent evasive maneuvers or return cannon fire. Boarders—armed with a wicked array of loaded flintlocks and freshly sharpened cutlasses or boarding axes, standing ready along the rail as our pirate vessel navigates amidships—throw grenadoes and caltrops onto the prize’s deck, adding to the calamity and confusion. When the distance between ships is no more, grappling hooks are tossed fore and aft, lashing the two vessels together. To prevent separation, the ends of the irons are customarily attached to long lengths of chain to prevent them from being severed by prey ship crewmen. The final action before the actual boarding involves skilled marksmen making surgically precise shots, clearing not only the deck but also the masts and spars aloft in a concerted effort to protect the boarding party.
The call to board will immediately follow, coming from the quartermaster upon the captain’s signal. The best attack plan for boarding a vessel requires the pirate ship to lay alongside her prize, ideally from the weather
GIVE NO QUARTER, TAKE NO QUARTER.
Beginning with the early privateering days of SIR FRANCIS DRAKE (a.k.a. “The Dragon”), when the red flag is hoisted it means no quarter to the prey. No mercy. No survivors. This simple act usually knocks the fight out of all but the most pigheaded captains, the majority of whom pay for their stubbornness with their lives and, sadly, the lives of their crew.
LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING.
In January 1698, WILLIAM KIDD, then privateer captain of the Adventure Galley, and later a pirate, spotted a ship in the distance flying French colors. Kidd quickly replaced his English flag (Union Jack) with a French flag and then sailed close enough to the large Quedah Merchant to fire a shot across her bow and order her surrender. The captain showed Kidd a French pass, hoping this would grant him freedom to sail. With a sly smile, Kidd ordered his ship’s French flag be hauled to the deck and hoisted the Union Jack once again, thus declaring the Quedah Merchant a legal prize.
JOLLY ROGER
A Jolly Roger is a flag that identifies the ship flying it as a pirate vessel. While the skull and crossbones is the most common of these flags, many great pirate captains have custom colors that further identify exactly who is attacking. As such, some Jolly Rogers elicit significantly more fear than others. CALICO JACK RACKAM’s design is a skull with a pair of crossed swords below it. Blackbeard’s flag pictures a devil stabbing a bleeding heart with a spear. CHRISTOPHER CONDENT’S flag features not one but three skulls and crossbones. And EDWARD LOW’S flag shows an eerie red skeleton against a black background.
[ fig. 21 ] JOLLY ROGER
BOARDING WITH EVIL INTENT
GRENADOES
Pirates use two types of grenadoes (a.k.a. grenades): those designed to obscure and confuse, and those intended to maim and kill.
Smoke grenades—ceramic shells stuffed with tar and rags with a fuse protruding from the top—are lit and thrown onto a prize’s deck, where they smash open and create dense black smokescreens.
The other grenades (a specialty of Blackbeard’s) are empty bottles packed with black powder, shot, and small pieces of lead. The explosion on or below deck will do little, if any, damage to the prize but will produce brutal, often fatal, injuries among the prey ship’s crew.
CALTROPS (“CROWSFEET”)
Made of scrap iron and featuring (at least) four wickedly sharp points, caltrops are designed to be tossed onto the deck of a ship and, no matter how they land, always have one point facing up, thereby delivering painful piercing injuries to barefoot and fallen sailors.
BOARDING PIKE
A long wooden shaft measuring ten to twenty feet in length with a sharpened steel or iron spearhead affixed to the end.
[ fig. 22 ] BATTLE ON DECK
gauge (between wind and prey) and amidships. A clever pirate captain will maneuver his ship between the wind and his prey, putting the bow alongside his enemy’s waist, so that his midship is snugged up close to the prey’s quarter, allowing the pirate crew to board fast and aggressively by her shrouds.
Trust me, if the prize’s crew was terrified when they first saw the Jolly Roger, the sight of a murderous horde climbing over their gunwales, weapons up and ready, intent on delivering agony and death with every trigger stroke or swing causes many to jump ship, hoping the sea will be less savage than the invaders.
Oftentimes, it is.
Boarding is far from serene and systematic. With plunder on our minds and murder in our hearts, we’ll use any means necessary to get onto the prize. For some, it’s as simple as using boarding pikes to create a little distance between themselves and the prey’s crew. Others, hoping for a sneak attack of sorts, will swing from the riggings and drop down on the unsuspecting crewmen. And then there are those who simply leap over the gunwales, hacking, slashing, and shooting their way into the violent fray.
The battle on deck is a brutal and bloody business. There are no rules. Bashing in an opponent’s skull with a boarding ax, or slicing off limbs and digits, are all common practices. The goal is to win at all costs. Fight fast and fight furious. And don’t get caught up with one opponent or opponents for too long lest you fall victim to an attack from behind. Once pirates engage in battle, there are only two outcomes: victory (and the spoils that come with it) or death, either on the ship or via execution for piracy later on.
Once the enemy crew is vanquished—either by total annihilation or, if they are smart, surrender—anything of use or value is plundered. Coins, jewels, precious metals, medicine, food and water, weapons—if it can be sold, spent, or used, we take it.
cutlass [ fig. 23a ]
Shorter but thicker in width than a standard cavalry saber, the majority of cutlasses—particularly those of the eighteenth-century French Navy—are slightly curved and are the preferred sidearm for every country’s navy. You can swing them with reckless abandon without fear of getting caught in the riggings. Most cutlasses have a fuller (sometimes referred to as a blood groove) running from the hilt to within seven inches of the point. Pirates are famous for using cutlasses, but there is no evidence to support the widespread belief that Caribbean buccaneers invented them.
DUSAGGE CUTLASS [ fig. 23b ]
While all cutlasses can inflict nasty wounds, the German-made Dusagge cutlass is especially fearsome, thanks to the many serrations on both sides of its broad, curved blade. However, the serrations weren’t added for greater effectiveness against flesh and bone—they are intended to catch and slash through rigging lines commonly encountered during shipboard combat.
belaying pin [ fig. 23c ]
A solid hardwood bar (one to three feet long) inserted along the inside of a ship’s bulwarks to secure lines. Because of its bulbous top portion and cylindrical shaft, a belaying pin makes a formidable club/impact weapon.
marlinspike [ fig. 23d ]
Made of iron or steel with a pointed end, marlinspikes (ranging from six to eighteen inches long) are used for a variety of deck chores, from separating strands of rope to prying open crates and barrels. Small and concealable, they are also the perfect size to be used as dagger-like weapons, making them ideal for those with mutiny on their mind.
grapeshot [ fig. 23e ]
Loosely packed metal slugs loaded in a canvas bag or packed directly into the swivel guns. This type of load is often improvised in the form of rocks, shards of glass, chain links, and any other metal scraps lying around.
[ fig. 23 ] WEAPONS
HOW TOM USE A CUTLASS
While many pirates simply prefer to swing and hack like maniacs with no real method to their madness, others take a far more artful approach.
Striking major organs (heart, lungs, brain, etc.) in the torso and head will end a fight quickly; however, there are less defensible areas you can attack to curtail a battle just as fast.
Feint for the head/torso, then strike at the extremities. Slicing off an opponent’s elbow, especially while his sword is raised or “cocked and locked,” will disarm him, literally.
Or feint high and go low, slicing out your enemy’s legs from under him. This maneuver is extremely hard to block, and, even if your opponent is still among the living, the battle is over—he won’t be able to come after you.
Never jump in the air to attack. This commits you. When gravity takes over, you’re coming down whether you like it or not. A skilled opponent can simply step back, out of harm’s way, and mount an offensive when you land.
The same holds true for spinning. Even if you’re extremely fast, turning your back on an opponent, especially one armed with an edged weapon, is very risky and usually has disastrous results.
The only time you should risk clashing swords with an opponent is to deflect his blade from your body. The risk of breaking your weapon is too great. Better to wait for an opening and then strike.
Control your attack. Don’t overswing. A big miss, in which your momentum carries your blade past your intended target, will leave you defenseless, exposed, and ripe for the picking.
Use a secondary weapon in tandem with the cutlass. While some pirates are demons with both a dagger and cutlass, other weapons, such as nets, rope coils, and lengths of chain can confuse, distract, or even trap an opponent, making delivering the coup de grâce with your cutlass that much easier.
And yes, it’s far easier to forego your cutlass and simply shoot your opponent with a flintlock.
YOU DON’T NEED BALLS TO HAVE BALLS!
Anchored off the north coast of Jamaica in October 1720, CALICO JACK and his male crewmen were getting raucously drunk below decks when they were surprised by a heavily armed privateer sloop hunting down pirates. Calico Jack’s drunken crew hid in the hold but ANNE BONNY and MARY READ immediately sprang into action with pistols firing, curses flying, and cutlasses and axes slashing and hacking at everyone in their path. When they realized the battle was lost, Mary turned her rage below decks and fired a shot down into the ship’s hold, screaming for the crew to “come up and fight like men.”
[ fig. 24 ] ANNE BONNY & MARY READ
Prisoners, for the most part, are treated fairly. Despite many tales to the contrary, women and children are almost never harassed (or worse). Sailors, depending on their desire and skills, are sometimes given the opportunity to join our pirate crew and many jump at the chance. Those who opt out of the brethren are usually cast off in a long boat (with some provisions, for not all pirates are complete bastards) or left on the first island or landmass we encounter. But the enemy captain often faces an entirely different fate—a fate decided by his own crew.
Many pirate captains take it upon themselves to mete out a little maritime justice. They ask the conquered prey ship’s crew whether their captain was an honorable and just man, worthy of a continued existence. If the defeated crew supports their leader, the captain is spared. But, if it turned out the captain is brazen, cruel, or a poor shepherd of the sea, Davy Jones is delivered another tortured soul, one with a title before his name.
When it’s over, we return to the pirate ship, attend to our injured, divvy up the booty—every man gets a share; those suffering severe but survivable wounds get extra—and set off in search of another prize.
The Barbadoes ships kept an easy sail till the Pyrates came up with them, and then Bartholomew Roberts gave them a gun, expecting they would have immediately struck to his piratical flag, but instead thereof, he was forced to receive the fire of a broadside, with three huzzas at the same time. So that an engagement ensued, but Roberts being hardly put to it, was obliged to crowd all the sail the sloop would bear, to get off. The galley failing pretty well, kept company for a long while, keeping a constant fire, which gall’d the Pyrate. However, at length by throwing over their guns, and other heavy goods, and thereby light’ning the vessel, they, with much ado, got clear. But Roberts could never endure a Barbadoes man afterwards, and when any ships belonging to that island fell in his way, he was more particularly severe to them than others.
CAPTAIN CHARLES JOHNSON,
A General History of the Pyrates (1726)
JUST BECAUSE I’M CORNERED DOESN’T MEAN I’m DEFEATED.
In 1669, after HENRY MORGAN sacked Maracaibo, his ships were trapped inside the bottle-shaped Lake Maracaibo by three heavily armed Spanish ships—the 40-gun Magdalena, the 30-gun San Luis, and the 30-gun Soledad—all waiting at the narrow mouth of the lake for Morgan to exit. So Morgan directed his buccaneers to convert one of his captured ships into a “fire ship.” First, they filled the vessel with black powder, pitch, tar, and sulfur. Then they positioned drums in the gun ports to give the appearance of cannons, along with vertical timbers disguised as crewmembers manning weapons. Finally, they cut the ship’s planks to effect a devastating, shattering force when the gunpowder exploded. Captain Morgan then sailed his pirate flotilla into the mouth of the lake with the fire ship leading the way, steering directly toward the MAGDALENA. The fire ship crashed into the monstrous 40-gunner and exploded, obliterating the vessel. Morgan’s force then captured the Soledad. In an interesting twist, the Spanish elected to sink the San Luis themselves to prevent it from becoming yet another Morgan prize.
MY SWORD IS BIGGER THAN YOUR SWORD!
In the seventeenth century, FRANçOIS L’OLONNAIS, the “cutlass buccaneer,” was extremely proficient with a cutlass, both as a weapon and as an interrogation tool. When it came to getting his captives to talk, François would hit the unlucky individuals with the flat of his cutlass’s blade until they divulged where they’d hidden their valuables.
DAGGER
Daggers are every pirate’s general-purpose knife and last-ditch backup weapon. Smaller blades, no longer than six inches, are both easier to conceal and easier to wield, especially in close-quarters combat.
[ fig. 25 ] DAGGER
HOW TO SHARPEN A KNIFE/DAGGER
Common mistakes when it comes to sharpening any blade include a failure to establish a new edge, uncontrolled bevel angles, and leaving the final bevel too rough.
First, pick an angle at which to sharpen your knife. If you already know what angle your knife is sharpened at, stay with it. Otherwise, choose an angle of 10 to 30 degrees per side.
The shallower the angle, the sharper the edge; steeper angles are far more durable.
Select the angle/edge based on use. If it’s defensive only, sharpness is key. If it’s primarily for camp use, go with a more durable grind.
When in doubt, 17 degrees is a good compromise.
Use an angle guide (if available) to control your edge’s angle. Without an angle guide, you’ll have to do it by hand, which is diff
icult and requires a solid perception of angles.
For a symmetrical edge, drag the knife across a lubricated (oil or water) stone in the opposite direction you would move it to slice a thin layer off the stone. This will allow a burr to form, prolonging the sharpening stone’s life.
Continue grinding at this angle until the grind goes approximately halfway through the steel.
Now flip the knife over and sharpen the other side of the blade until a new edge is created. This will be easy to determine when a burr has been raised (one bevel is ground until it meets another). Although not always visible, you should be able to feel it with your finger.