#Barbary pirates

[illustratus]

The Bombardment of Algiers, 1816 by George Chambers.

[ltwilliammowett]

USS Enterprise battling the Barbary Pirates, 1801, by Patrick O'Brien (1960-)

[baebeylik]

The Sack of Baltimore occurred in 1631. It was led by a Dutchman named Jan Janszoon (Murad Reis). The motley crew of Barbary Pirates who raided the little Irish village were mostly Dutch, Turkish, and North African. They attacked Baltimore, Ireland in the dead of night and made away with hundreds of enslaved villagers. Most of the victims were Puritan colonists but a handful were native Irish. Estimates of the victims vary from one hundred to two hundred. The majority of them were likely sold in Algiers where they disappeared into horrendous obscurity.

[allaboutyoupostnthings]

US Navy: From Continental Roots to Modern Power

What are the responsibilities of the US Navy? US Navy created to ensure the security and defense of USA’s territorial waters and interests at sea. The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution to create the Continental Navy on October 13, 1775 during the American Revolution and afterwards disbanded.. George Washington signed the Naval Act of 1794 into law on March 27, 1794. This…

[aikoiya]

Part 1 of how America became the world police.

[blueiscoool]

17th-Century Pirate 'Corsair' Shipwreck Discovered off Morocco

Wreck-hunters have discovered the remains of a small 17th-century pirate ship, known as a Barbary corsair, in deep water between Spain and Morocco.

The wreck is "the first Algiers corsair found in the Barbary heartland," maritime archaeologist Sean Kingsley, the editor-in-chief of Wreckwatch magazine and a researcher on the find, told Live Science.

The vessel was heavily armed and may have been heading to the Spanish coast to capture and enslave people when it sank, its discoverers said.

But it was carrying a cargo of pots and pans made in the North African city of Algiers, probably so that it could masquerade as a trading vessel.

Florida-based company Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME) located the shipwreck in 2005 during a search for the remains of the 80-gun English warship HMS Sussex, which was lost in the area in 1694.

"As so often happens in searching for a specific shipwreck we found a lot of sites never seen before," Greg Stemm, the founder of OME and the expedition leader, saide in an email.

The 2005 expedition also found the wrecks of ancient Roman and Phoenician ships in the area, Stemm said.

News of the corsair wreck is only being released now, in a new article by Stemm in Wreckwatch, after extensive historical research.

Dread pirates

The Barbary corsair pirates were predominantly Muslims who began operating in the 15th century out of Algiers, which was then part of the Ottoman empire.

Much of the western coastline of North Africa, from modern-day Morocco to Libya, was known as the "Barbary Coast" at the time — a name derived from the Berber people who lived there; and its pirates were a major threat for more than 200 years, preying on ships and conducting slave raids along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe.

The people captured in the slave raids were held for ransom or sold into the North African slave trade that operated in some Muslim countries until the early 20th century.

But the piratical activities of the Barbary corsairs came to an end in the early 19th century, when the pirates were defeated in the Barbary Wars by the United States, Sweden and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily in southern Italy.

Sunken ship

The corsair wreck lies on the seafloor in the Strait of Gibraltar, at a depth of about 2,700 feet (830 meters).

The ship was about 45 feet (14 m) long, and research indicates it was a tartane — a small ship with triangular lateen sails on two masts that could also be propelled by oars.

Tartanes were used by Barbary pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries, in part because they were often mistaken for fishing vessels, meaning other ships wouldn't suspect pirates were onboard, Kingsley said.

"I've seen tartanes described as 'low-level pirate ships,' which I like,” Kingsley said.

The wreck hunters explored the sunken corsair using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which revealed the vessel was armed with four large cannons, 10 swivel guns and many muskets for its crew of about 20 pirates.

"The wreck neatly fits the profile of a Barbary corsair in location and character," Kingsley said. "The seas around the Straits of Gibraltar were the pirates' favorite hunting grounds, where a third of all corsair prizes were taken."

Stemm added that the wrecked ship was also equipped with a very rare "spyglass" — an early type of telescope that was revolutionary at the time and had probably been captured from a European ship.

Other artifacts of the wreck support the notion this was a pirate ship laden with stolen goods.

"Throw into the sunken mix a collection of glass liquor bottles made in Belgium or Germany, and tea bowls made in Ottoman Turkey, and the wreck looks highly suspicious," he said. "This was no normal North African coastal trader."

By Tom Metcalfe.

[pokemonheadcanons]

Headcanon #753

The Treasures of Ruin cause so much destruction because they’re enraged about being stolen from their home region by the Paldean Empire in the 17th century.

[illustratus]

[isaacsapphire]

Hey, you could still get captured by pirates or join a foreign legion or be a foreign agitator of revolution!

How’s your Farsi?

all my current (mild!) malaise can be chalked up to a lack of excitement. I need to do something scary more often.

this is part of why I want to get into riding, but as previously discussed, nobody wants to let me do it. maybe I should steal a horse

[ltwilliammowett]

Hark Olufs a pirate victim sold into slavery

Hark or Harck Olufs was born in July 1708 in Süddorf on Amrum. At that time, the island of Amrum was under Danish rule, a time when the island was always fought over and regularly changed crowns.

Now Hark's father was "Captain Oluf Jensen" and as a sought-after North German captain he owned several ships, including "die Hoffnung /the Hope", on which he sent his son Hark Olufs on board as a sailor in 1721. Three years later, what many sailors of that time truly feared happened. When Hark was on his way from Nantes to Hamburg, two of his cousins and the crew fell into the hands of the notorious Barbary pirates and were taken as slaves to Algiers to extort ransom.

Front of Hark Oluf’s talking gravestone (x)

"Here lies the great war hero, resting gently on Amrom Christenfeld. The blessed Harck Olufs was born there on Amrum in 1708, 19 July. Soon afterwards, in his younger years, he was taken prisoner by the Turkish pirates in Algiers on 24 March 1724. In such imprisonment, however, he served the Turkish Bey of Constantine as a casnadaje for 11 and a quarter years, until this Bey finally gave him his freedom in 1735 on 31 October out of kindness to him, since he then happily returned here the following year as A[nn]o 1736 on 25 April. April, he happily arrived here again on his fatherland, and thus in A[nn]o 1737 entered into holy matrimony with Antje Harken, who is now in a sad widowhood together with 5 children. In such marriage, however, they have begotten a son and 4 daughters. Thus they must all feel the death of their father, since he died in 1754 on 13 October, and brought his life to 46 years and 13 weeks.

Of course, Hark's desperate family tried to buy him free, but simply could not raise the enormously large sum demanded, although large fundraising campaigns were initiated. But Hark and his cousins were not the only ones, and since each of them was asked for about 6,000 marks, it was almost impossible to raise this amount. But his family did not give up and even turned to the Danish government, which had a special department for kidnapped sailors. But now there was a problem. The Hope was not sailing under the Danish flag, but under the free flag of Hamburg (the reason why his father was also allowed to call himself Captain, because this title was only allowed to Hamburger merchant Captains, others were only Commanders) whereupon Hark Olufs' application for release was rejected. As if this were not dramatic enough, the Olufs family was further dogged by bad luck. When Hark's father finally had the required sum of money together, he arranged for his son to be ransomed. And indeed, a Hark Olufs was also ransomed, but not his son, just someone else with the same name. All hope for the real Hark Olufs seemed lost and with each passing day, the hope of seeing him alive again faded. But Hark was lucky -

The following text is written on the back of the gravestone: (x)

"May God grant the body a joyful resurrection on the last day.

To my own I call back from the grave these lines for remembrance: Alas, in my younger years I must go to the robbery of the Algiers And hold almost twelve years the Slaverey. But God made me free by his hand. Therefore I say again: I know, my God, I must now die. I will, but one thing I ask. Let not mine own perish. Keep the widow's house. Oh God, because I cannot provide, take thee wife and children."

After being sold as a slave, he worked as a servant to the Beys of Constantine until 1728. On behalf of his owner, he killed many people and gained the trust of his master. Thus Hark not only rose to the position of treasurer, but between 1724 and 1732 he became commander of the bodyguard. Incidentally, he also took part in a pilgrimage to Mecca, from which it can be concluded that he converted to Islam. After Hark had helped in the conquest of Tunis in 1735, he was released in gratitude on 31 October and returned home to Amrum in 1736 as a very wealthy man.

However, he did not seem to leave voluntarily, because shortly after he was released, the Bey died. And with that, Hark lost his protector and leader, which threatened his own life again, and so he returned.

Title page of the first edition of Hark Olufs' Autobiography, 1747 (x)

When he returned to Amrum, he stayed there. He only married after a thorough examination by the pastor and the elders, but after proving that he was still a Christian, he was baptised and accepted back into the church and community. Once and for all fed up with dangerous seafaring, he held several offices on Amrum and even met the Danish King Christian VI. He told him his story and in 1747 his own autobiography was published. Hark Olufs died in Süddorf on Amrum on 13 October 1754. Even today his gravestone, which is one of the talking stones, stands in Nebel in the cemetery at St Clement's Church.  

But it doesn't stop there, because since his death he has been sighted again and again wandering around the cemetery and between the dunes in search of his treasure and obviously cannot find any peace.

[retrocgads]

UK 1987

[theoutcastrogue]

Corsairs of Malta: Legitimate Targets

"There was a constant temptation for the corsairs to attack not only Moslem shipping, but also to attack Christians. Although this was in direct contradiction of their oath, the corsairs justified their activity on various grounds. The Christians were not really Christians, they were only pretending to be Christians. If they were Christians, the goods they were carrying belonged to Turks, and thus it was legitimate to seize them. Or even if they were Christians and the goods that they carried belonged to them, they were Greek Orthodox and therefore schismatic, and therefore heretics, and therefore enemies of the Faith, and thus liable to depredation.

During the seventeenth century these unfortunate Greeks and the representatives of the other minority Christian groups in the Levant, such as the Maronites, were on their own and their only hope of recompense was to come to Malta and sue the corsairs in the island’s courts. It is some measure of the justice of the courts in Malta at this time that many Greeks who sued for wrongful depredation actually won their case and recovered damages. In the eighteenth century, however, while Maltese attitudes hardened towards the Greeks, the latter found a powerful protector in the Pope."

— Peter Earle, Corsairs of Malta and Barbary (1970)

[qbdatabase]

Ahoy, mates and mutineers!

This month’s list features some of my top picks for women who rule the high seas–and the occasional space ship. Or really fucked up ghost ship. Plus a couple extra disaster male pirates 😘

Book descriptions and rep for lesbian, bisexual, butch, disabled, autistic, and women of color below the cut!

*Barbary Station / R. E. Stearns: Sci-Fi; grad students turn to space-piracy to pay off their debts but find they’re trapped on-station by an evil AI, feat. autistic lesbian x bi girlfriend

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea / Maggie Tokuda-Hall: YA Fantasy; a genderfluid pirate accidentally bonds with their noble Lady passenger, set on a wild escape, and free a captured mermaid

Ship of Smoke and Steel / Django Wexler: YA Fantasy, Action; Asian bisexual crime boss fights a ghost pirate ship (yes, the ship itself) with her lesbian healer girlfriend

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy / Mackenzi Lee: YA Historical; an aro-ace lady schemes to become a doctor, but she’ll settle for being a pirate!

The Fifth Season / N. K. Jemisin: Fantasy, Dystopia; a poly bisexual woman sets out on a vengeance quest to rescue her kidnapped daughter the day the world ends

Compass Rose / Anna Burke: Fantasy / Sci-Fi; a black lesbian goes undercover as a pirate in the 26th century

Windfall / Shawna Barnett: Fantasy; a secret-princess pirate Captain is blackmailed into protecting a runaway real princess in bisexual love square

A Song of Silver and Gold / Melissa Karibian: Fantasy; retelling of The Little Mermaid with enemies-to-lovers, butch lesbian pirate Captain x siren warrior who must cut out her heart

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach: Sci-Fi; bisexual dead cop comes back wrong and works w/pirates to stop a plague

*Captain Raven and the All Girl Pirate Crew: YA graphic novel; Raven needs revenge against her brothers, so she hires a female crew, feat. Deaf, lesbian, and women of color

(extra) The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue: YA Historical; alcoholic bi male x epileptic biracial gay male; the first in the series by Makenzie Lee

*(extra) Kidnapped by the Pirate / Keira Andrews: Romance; a young gay man offers himself as hostage to an older pirate Captain to save his sister

*titles with an asterisk next to them have been featured on QBdatabase.com as a daily book; this lists the book's full jacket summary, detailed notes on representation, and a link to its goodreads page!

[sins-of-the-sea]

You like cats, right, Giovanni? Have you ever heard of the nekomata? They're two-tailed cat spirits from Japan!

"I have! One of the older thralls the Master had when I rejoined him in Sugbu was a Japanese pirate named Akitake! I think he was a disgraced lord from Edo who joined Datu Dalugdog and many other pirates of the South China Seas by the time. Either way! He told me about the nekomata and other creatures in Japan like the tanuki and the Orochi beast! Supposedly when a cat has lived a long enough life, its tail will split in two! I think they also become especially wise or powerful!

"Ohhh, I'd love to befriend a nekomata! I will give it all the love and hugs and cuddles and pets and treats it will ever ask for!!"