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   Part One of a Two Part Series |
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Many books and movies portray pirates as heroes with their trusty swords sailing the seas in search of adventure and treasure. But piracy, or theft on the sea, has actually plagued the merchant sailor for as long as cargo has been moving at sea. Since the beginning of time there have been those who would rather steal from others than earn their own living. On land, we call this type of person a thief, a bandit, a robber, a crook or a burglar. On water, the same criminal is called a pirate. Since little has been written by the pirates themselves, we have learned about their activities through oral history relayed from generation to generation, and from records of trials and survivors. One thing we do know, however, is that the influence of piracy on the course of history has been dramatic. The first historical records about piracy were found on clay tablets written by the Babylonians and Egyptians. The first written law against piracy was in 1948 BC. In the last century of the Roman Empire, the pirates in the Mediterranean Sea were able to plunder over five hundred villages of the Roman Empire. They even captured and held Julius Caesar for six weeks and collected a large ransom! Piracy flourished, though, from the 1600’s through the mid-1800’s in what was known as the Golden Age of Piracy. In this three hundred year period, pirates paid regular visits to ports of call like Boston, Savannah, Nassau, Portsmouth, New Orleans, Port Royal, Tortuga, San Juan, Havana, Puerto Bello, St. Augustine, Barbados, Bermuda, Charlestown, Charlotte Amalie, and Newport, Rhode Island (can you find all of these ports on the map?). Pirates also ravaged the coasts of North and South America until no merchant vessel without an escort could safely sail from port to port. To learn a little about pirates of the Bahamas during this Golden Age of Piracy, take a look at Web site: http://www.interknowledge.com/bahamas/pirates01.htm. In their aggressive pursuit of treasure, pirates performed amazing feats of navigation, discovered and charted harbor sites and channels, water currents and wind directions which advanced water travel. Influenced by the acts of pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy, governments argued over trade routes, control of colonial possessions changed among England, France, Holland, Spain and Portugal, and the colonies of North America gained their independence. This great age of piracy started to subside when the United States began to experiment with steam power for their naval fleet. The new ship, invented by Robert Fulton in 1803, used steam for propulsion and the weather didn’t affect its movement. A ship powered by the steam engine could go forward, back up, and reposition with the turn of a lever which soon made ships with sails obsolete throughout the world. But piracy never completely diminished, in fact, it still plagues merchant sailors today. It’s considered to be one of the major perils of ocean shipping. 174 ships were victims of piracy in 1996. That’s almost one attack every 48 hours! Pirates today seem to spend most of their time prowling the waters of South America and South East Asia. The purpose of pirate attacks has remained the same throughout the years — to steal money, property and cargo. The treasure today seems to be electronic equipment, valuables, cash, even entire ships. Modern day pirates employ high-powered, shallow draft vessels for the quick get-away. Pirate attacks are usually quite violent with pirates armed and dangerous. Crew members are often taken hostage, threatened, injured or even killed. Pirates have even caused ship collisions which have resulted in major oil pollution incidents. Unfortunately, pirates rarely get caught. The threat of piracy is so real that the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point, N.Y. has included a segment on “how to handle pirate attacks” in their curriculum. Methods proven most successful in warding off pirates today include stacking on-deck containers so that their access doors are facing each other and cannot be opened until the container is off-loaded. Carriers also try to keep as many ship lights “on” as possible to deter pirates from trying to board the ship at all. If pirates are able to board the ship at open sea or while its anchored at port, sailors literally try to wash them overboard with fire hoses. Stay tuned next week for insider information about a pirate’s way of life, a pirate’s ship, a pirate’s treasure, and more! |
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