Read Online Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson - Free Book Online
Authors: Robert Kurson
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clergyman wrote: “This town is the Sodom of the new World and since the majority of its population consists of pirates, cut-throats, whores and some of the vilest persons in the whole of the world, I felt my permanence there was of no use.”
For all its wickedness, however, Port Royal seemed to tolerate everyone. Quakers, Catholics, atheists, Jews—all were free to worship and believe as they pleased, and they lived peacefully alongside one another as Port Royal became the richest town in the New World. Pirates and buccaneers continued to arrive, welcomed by a public that understood the wellspring of its good fortune, and who ate, drank, and lived among these fast-living men.
For years, there were few better places for pirates or privateers than Port Royal. But in the early 1670s, as trade between Jamaica and the rest of the world grew, pockets of opposition formed against these bandits of the sea. Jamaica was becoming a major producer of sugar; anything that caused mayhem or interfered with trade came to be seen as a threat by powerful merchants and government officials. A peace treaty between England and Spain made the island less vulnerable. Antipiracy laws were enacted; those who didn’t abandon the trade could be prosecuted and hanged.
The pirates did not go gently. But as London sent warships and sailors to Port Royal, the statistical life expectancy of a pirate dropped further. By 1680, the year Bannister nearly lost the
Golden Fleece
inPort Royal harbor, many pirates and privateers had been driven from the island. Those who continued to operate there did so at great peril.
Still, opportunity beckoned. As transoceanic trade increased, ships crossed the Atlantic and Caribbean in greater numbers than ever, many loaded with valuable cargos, some with treasure. A man of a certain daring, able to secure a powerful ship and inspire a crew, could still make a fortune by hijacking these vessels on the open seas. The question, as the 1680s wore on, was whether such a man existed anymore.
—
B Y 1684, B ANNISTER HAD been making the London–Jamaica run for at least four years, delivering his cargos and building his reputation. In June of that year, however, the lord president of the Council of Jamaica received a disturbing letter from the island’s governor, Thomas Lynch: “One Bannister ran away with a ship, the
Golden Fleece
, of thirty or forty guns, picked up over a hundred men from sloops and from leeward [at Port Royal], and has got a French commission.”
Bannister, in fact, had no commission, but he most certainly had stolen the
Golden Fleece
, and he’d done so with a single purpose—to turn pirate. His actions hardly could have been bolder. It was near unheard of for a transatlantic captain, especially one as well regarded and trusted as Bannister, to “go on the account,” as it was said of pirating. Even in Port Royal, where everything happened, few had seen anything like this.
Lynch didn’t sit around and wait for Bannister to return to his senses. Instead, he ordered the
Ruby
, the biggest and deadliest warship in the Jamaica fleet, to go after the
Golden Fleece.
A monster rated at 540 tons, with forty-eight cannons and a crew of 150, the
Ruby
was a pirate killer down to her timbers.
Bannister did not intend to make it easy for Lynch’s enforcers. Since stealing the
Golden Fleece
, he had picked up additional crew, robbed a Spanish vessel, and made his way to the Cayman Islands totake turtles and gather wood. But the
Ruby
surprised him there, and her captain, David Mitchell, and his crew captured Bannister and put an end to his six-week pirate career.
Lynch was delighted.
“Last night,” he wrote, “the
Ruby
brought in Bannister. He took him at Caymanos; he has about 115 men on board, most of the veriest rogues in these Indies. I have ordered the ship and the men to be delivered into the Admiralty and commanded the judge immediately to proceed against them, because we do not know how to
For all its wickedness, however, Port Royal seemed to tolerate everyone. Quakers, Catholics, atheists, Jews—all were free to worship and believe as they pleased, and they lived peacefully alongside one another as Port Royal became the richest town in the New World. Pirates and buccaneers continued to arrive, welcomed by a public that understood the wellspring of its good fortune, and who ate, drank, and lived among these fast-living men.
For years, there were few better places for pirates or privateers than Port Royal. But in the early 1670s, as trade between Jamaica and the rest of the world grew, pockets of opposition formed against these bandits of the sea. Jamaica was becoming a major producer of sugar; anything that caused mayhem or interfered with trade came to be seen as a threat by powerful merchants and government officials. A peace treaty between England and Spain made the island less vulnerable. Antipiracy laws were enacted; those who didn’t abandon the trade could be prosecuted and hanged.
The pirates did not go gently. But as London sent warships and sailors to Port Royal, the statistical life expectancy of a pirate dropped further. By 1680, the year Bannister nearly lost the
Golden Fleece
inPort Royal harbor, many pirates and privateers had been driven from the island. Those who continued to operate there did so at great peril.
Still, opportunity beckoned. As transoceanic trade increased, ships crossed the Atlantic and Caribbean in greater numbers than ever, many loaded with valuable cargos, some with treasure. A man of a certain daring, able to secure a powerful ship and inspire a crew, could still make a fortune by hijacking these vessels on the open seas. The question, as the 1680s wore on, was whether such a man existed anymore.
—
B Y 1684, B ANNISTER HAD been making the London–Jamaica run for at least four years, delivering his cargos and building his reputation. In June of that year, however, the lord president of the Council of Jamaica received a disturbing letter from the island’s governor, Thomas Lynch: “One Bannister ran away with a ship, the
Golden Fleece
, of thirty or forty guns, picked up over a hundred men from sloops and from leeward [at Port Royal], and has got a French commission.”
Bannister, in fact, had no commission, but he most certainly had stolen the
Golden Fleece
, and he’d done so with a single purpose—to turn pirate. His actions hardly could have been bolder. It was near unheard of for a transatlantic captain, especially one as well regarded and trusted as Bannister, to “go on the account,” as it was said of pirating. Even in Port Royal, where everything happened, few had seen anything like this.
Lynch didn’t sit around and wait for Bannister to return to his senses. Instead, he ordered the
Ruby
, the biggest and deadliest warship in the Jamaica fleet, to go after the
Golden Fleece.
A monster rated at 540 tons, with forty-eight cannons and a crew of 150, the
Ruby
was a pirate killer down to her timbers.
Bannister did not intend to make it easy for Lynch’s enforcers. Since stealing the
Golden Fleece
, he had picked up additional crew, robbed a Spanish vessel, and made his way to the Cayman Islands totake turtles and gather wood. But the
Ruby
surprised him there, and her captain, David Mitchell, and his crew captured Bannister and put an end to his six-week pirate career.
Lynch was delighted.
“Last night,” he wrote, “the
Ruby
brought in Bannister. He took him at Caymanos; he has about 115 men on board, most of the veriest rogues in these Indies. I have ordered the ship and the men to be delivered into the Admiralty and commanded the judge immediately to proceed against them, because we do not know how to
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