At all times, pirates have been associated with adventurers, robbers, robbers and brawlers who have earned fame not only at sea, in love exploits, but even in politics. But let us look at their activities in the open sea, since it was she who brought those fabulous riches that are still sought. Even the names of the pirate ships were designed to intimidate their opponents, and the flag "Jolly Roger" and at all inspired panic in the crew of the attacked ship.
The most famous pirates
Speaking about the era of piracy, it is worth considering that not all adherents of this method of earning and existence were just pirates in the direct sense of the word. In those days, there was a division into outright robbers, corsairs, privateers, filibusters, etc.
Interestingly, privateering was legalized in England, which by all means tried to prevent Spain from entering the New World. Roughly speaking, the English crown secretly granted patents for the robbery of the Spanish galleons, which returned with gold and silver from both Americas.
But in general, if you make a list of the most desperate and famous personalities of that era, he could look something like this:
- Captain Kidd.
- Francis Drake
- Edward Teach Blackbeard.
- Henry Morgan.
- L'Ollone.
- Jethro Flint.
- Olivier Le Wasser.
- William Dampier.
- Aruj Barbarossa.
- Jen Shea and many others.
The famous names of pirate ships. List
Naturally, each of these thugs preferred to have their own ship, and, if possible, a flotilla of three or more ships. However, if the secondary ships sometimes had names even satirical, the flagship without fail had to carry such a name that it was on everyone’s lips. Often used allegories or overtly defiant names. Here is an incomplete list of the most famous ships of that time (the names of pirate ships in English or French are given together with the Russian translation):
- Golden Hind (Golden Hind);
- Galley "Adventure" (Adventure Galley);
- “Queen Ann's Revenge”;
- “Careless Corsair” (El corsario descuidad);
- "Periton" (Le Periton) - flying deer;
- The Avenger
- "Widah" (Whydah);
- "Royal Fortune" (Royal Fortune);
- "Fantasy" (Fancy);
- "Happy Delivery" (Happy Delivery);
- "Rising Sun" (Rising Sun);
- Revenge, etc.
And that’s not all. Very often it was possible to meet the names of pirate ships like "The omnipresent death", "Victoria - the bloody baroness", "Prize of luck", "Bell", "Cerberus", "Black Widow", "Leviathan", "Shaving water", in in general, there was plenty of imagination. But dwell on what were the famous pirate ships. Their names did not always reflect the true nature of the threat, because by and large the Spanish galleons were 36-48-gun frigates, which it was not possible to board for capture. A pirate ship would be shot on the way, no matter how well it maneuvers.
Therefore, usually the robbers were content with lower rank frigates. To have 24, 36 or 40 guns on board was considered riding. And escort by several vessels with 20 or even 12 guns on board could play a decisive role in the battle.
The main characteristics of the ships
Despite the loud and sometimes intimidating names of pirate ships, they could not always be compared with the same Spanish ships or the English fleet.
For example, the “Adventure” of William Kidd was a 34-gun unusual-type frigate brigantine (with direct sails and a rowing team).
Queen Anne’s Revenge, originally called Concord, was more powerful with 40 guns. The Golden Doe first descended from the slipway as a 3-masted sailboat called the Pelican, according to various estimates, with 18-22 guns.
The most famous literary hero and his squadron
In the literature, the names of the pirate ships were replenished with another famous character - Captain Blood (Rafael Sabatini - “The Odyssey of Captain Blood”, “The Chronicles of Captain Blood”), whose unrequited love for the daughter of the Governor of Barbados (and then Jamaica) made him call 36- captured from the Spaniards the cannon frigate "Cinco Lyagos" by her name. Since then, "Arabella" has become a thunderstorm of the seas.
By the way, Le Wasser is also mentioned in the work , but the name of the literary hero is Levaser, and his ship is called “La Foudre” (“Lightning”). There is also the name Avenger, one of the main opponents of the protagonist, Captain Easterling.
Captain Blood himself, in his characteristic humorous manner, gave names to secondary vessels such as Elizabeth (in honor of the Queen of England) or in honor of the three Greek goddesses Atropos, Clotho, and Lachezis.
Only at the end of the narrative was captured the 80-gun frigate "Victoriez", commanded by Baron de Rivarol. But the author could not rename it, according to the plot, because Blood became the governor, and his ships became part of the Jamaican squadron.
Cinema
And how to do without the "Black Pearl" from the quadrology "Pirates of the Caribbean"? Here, too, have their own nuances. The name of Captain Barbossa clearly echoes Barbarossa.
And about the "Flying Dutchman" in general it is not necessary to speak. The film indicates that this is a ship of Davy Jones, although in fact no one knows who owned this ghost ship, and whether it exists at all and only in a single copy.
Instead of an afterword
Well, if you take into account that the kids love this kind of adventure, the name of the pirate ship for children is not difficult to come up with, because they often have a much more developed fantasy than an adult. Even common names like Thunderstorm or Thunder will do. Here the children are masters of using associations that scare their peers.
But, seriously, the names of the pirate ships are often associated not with abstract concepts or mystical phenomena, but rather with the history of England, because most of these seekers of luck, one way or another, were associated with the English crown, and by and large fought against the Spaniards. Naturally, there were those who robbed indiscriminately, but privateering in those days was, so to speak, the most gentlemanly craft with a huge number of restrictions. Take the same Henry Morgan, who later became vice-governor of Jamaica, or Sir Francis Drake (English admiral). The story is full of surprises ...