Pirates and their stories have always been a subject of great appeal to adventure enthusiasts. Blindfolded, boat dwellers roaming the seas with a lust for wealth and treasures have provided an inexhaustible source of inspiration for filmmakers and novelists.
Today, let’s learn about other pirates who are extremely “quality”, extremely famous and especially… successful in their profession.
The time from 1719 to 1722 had a name that became the terror of any seafarer. Just seeing the sign of the guy in the distance, everyone knows fate to turn their heads and keep their distance. Simply because clashing with Bartholomew Roberts – the pirate known as Black Bart – will never end well.
In nearly 3 years of operation, Black Bart robbed more than 400 boats.
Black Bart has a habit of robbing all ships that appear on his voyage through the Caribbean. In nearly 3 years of operation, Black Bart robbed more than 400 boats – a number that makes him considered the most successful pirate of all time. With his ability to “rip off” boats like an expert, Bartholomew Roberts deserves his fame in history.
Like many other pirates, Roberts did not intend to roam the seas to plunder like that. He was once a tall, attractive and well-dressed man with a great passion for expensive clothes and accessories.
Roberts’ pirate “career” only began in 1719, when he was working as a mate on a slave ship called the Princess. The boat was then attacked by Howell Davis’ pirate crew, and Roberts was captured by Davis as his sailor.
Although he was hesitant at first, Roberts eventually realized that pirates were the life that gave him everything he had ever wanted: money, jewelry and luxurious clothes.
Not a successful pirate, but Jack succeeds in a different way by making his pirate life extremely interesting.
John Jack Rackham.
John Jack Rackham is known by the famous name Calico Jack simply because he often wears a shirt made of calico (bamboo fabric). However, what makes Calico Jack “different” from pirates in general, is the presence of two female sailors in his crew.
During his brief career from 1718 to 1720, Calico Jack did not earn much, safely traveling across the Caribbean thanks to his cunning mind and habit of stabbing people in the back. Although not famous for his leadership or his wealth, Calico’s creation of a new symbol on the pirate flag was influential for the era.
Before Calico’s time, the pirate flag (Jolly Roger) often featured a human skeleton with a weapon or object. For example, the flag of “Blackbeard” Blackbeard is a skeleton holding an hourglass in one hand and a spear in the other hand stabbing the heart.
Blackbeard’s traditional Jolly Roger flag (left) and Calico’s new generation pirate flag
But instead of the traditional “design” , Calico preferred his black flag with skulls and crossbones and raised it everywhere. Until now, not many people remember the image of the “old” pirate flag anymore, but when it comes to pirates, the first sign is the skull and crossbones symbol. Success as a designer instead of a pirate is what makes Calico Jack unique in the “pirate” village.
As mentioned above, in Calico Jack’s crew, there were two female pirates who gave him “name” : Mary Read and Anne Bonny – Calico’s lover. These are really two independent female sailors, brave and brave no less than any other sailor.
Rumor has it that Bonny once beat a man who was too young to die when he tried to harass her. Bonny is also famous for his ability to “cultivate” wine like water, “dance” swords with other sailors.
Bonny once beat a man to death for groping her.
As for Read’s story, it wasn’t difficult for her to work aboard a ship among a crew of men. Read was raised as a son from a young age because her mother was forced to find a way to hide the death of her brother from her grandfather’s house. They also oriented Read to become a sailor in the future.
And as fate would have it, Read’s boat was hijacked by Calico Jack en route to the Caribbean. Reluctantly again, Read became a pirate in the form of a man in 1720. There, she became acquainted with Anne Bonny. A major feat of the couple was leading the battle against raids with fishing boats and small merchant ships in the summer and fall of 1720.
Even though she knows she doesn’t have many rights, on any ship, Bonny is not given the respect she deserves, the job is not like other sailors. But she still loves the life of wandering at sea, and so does Read, no matter where their lives go.
Read and Bonny.