Having watched the linked video and its other part ages ago and again more recently, my chief question is always the same. Who begins the process? Given that the captain is just a crew member hired like the rest, who is the one that begins the recruiting process? Without covering that, it almost feels like piracy is caused by random, persuasive ships floating into port. Have I just missed that info every single time?
Sometimes pirate crews started as mutineers. A merchant or navy ship has a captain that severely mistreats his crew. Eventually they get sick of him and maroon him somewhere or throw him overboard. At that point, everyone on that ship has probably already committed a capital offense (especially if it’s a navy ship), so they literally have nothing to lose by becoming pirates at that point. If they’re ever caught, they’re already dead. Initially on the boat are just the folks who happened to be there at the time of the mutiny. But some filtering happens over time. Those who don’t actually want to be pirates eventually slink off at one port stop or another. And new recruits are found via quiet conversations in port taverns. A lot of recruiting probably happens through personal contacts, “oh, we’re going to port X? Why I have a cousin there that might be interested!”
Also, often pirate ships started off as privateers. A privateer is just like a pirate, except legal. Let’s say Britain and France are at war. Britain issues letters of marque to any ship with captain and crew willing to raid French shipping. This is a way for the British crown to target French shipping at a fraction of the cost of having the Royal Navy do it themselves. (It’s the Age of Sale equivalent of German U-boats raiding British shipping during WW2.) If such a privateer is caught by the French, they’ll still be treated like pirates. But as far as the British are concerned, what they’re doing is completely legal. They can go steal a French and ship then sail into any British port and unload their plunder. It’s all completely legal and a culturally accepted part of warfare. As long as the captain had their official letter of marque, the harbormaster in any British port would let them participate freely and openly. As far as how these privateers got going? Simple capitalism. Some people with cash to invest would invest in a boat and crew, and attempt to make a profit from the conflict.
And that’s all well and good, except what happens when the war ends? Those letters of marque were only good during wartime. And privateers don’t get military retirement benefits. There’s no pension or these folks. (Not even whatever pitiful equivalent existed for Navy sailors at the time.) Men who were risking their lives sailing the seas, plundering commerce in Britain’s name? Well they’re now all out of a job. And even if what they did was legal, it still carried a stigma. Job prospects may be quite poor for a former privateer, and it certainly won’t be as lucrative. So, quite predictably, after the wars ended, often times the privateers just kept doing what they were good at. So many pirates were simply privateers that had been cut loose by their respective governments.
I answered an ad like this posted by Elcid Barrett back in Nova Scotia. Now I’m a broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barrett’s privateers.
I don’t know that I’d recommend the career.
I’m sorry about your legs.
because they’re made out of wood?
Eh, you can’t sing shanties if you’ve got two legs, and you don’t own a boat, and you’ve got no beard.
And you can’t shout ho?
God damn them all!
Those were my sentiments exactly.
Elcid Barrett
Misremembering lyrics and making them up is accurate to the medium!
God damn the autocorrect, too!
How I wish I was in Shorebrook now.
I used to be a farmer and I made a living fine
I had a little stretch of land along the CP line
But times were tough and though I tried, the money wasn’t there
'Til bankers came and took my land and told me “Fair is fair.”I looked for every kind of job, the answer always “no.”
“Hire you now?” they’d laugh and say, “We just let forty go.”
The government, it promised me a measly little sum
But I’ve got too much pride to end up just another bum.But I thought, who gives a damn if all the jobs are gone.
I’m gonna be a pirate on the river Saskatchewan!I don’t know the tune, but it works to Banned from Argo.
The fact that there’s a performance based profit share is a huge draw
Also, if I remember correctly, the crew votes on the captain prior to setting sail and there are mechanisms in place to replace the captain if they aren’t performing well enough.
I know this is a shit post, but you really can voluteer to sail the world with the Nao Santa María,
https://www.fundacionnaovictoria.org/
I’ve been on it a while back, beautiful ship.
A bucket list item of mine is to go on a training ship. I was eyeing up this one https://sailtraininginternational.org/vessel/statsraad-lehmkuhl/.
Aaand bookmarked. 100% going on my list of stuff to do.
Too bad you don’t get paid for it (in fact, you have to pay for it yourself).
That musical instrument list is a joke! No squeeze boxes? No woodwind? No percussion?
No hornpipe. I’m out
Calm down Horatio.
I mean you can stamp your feet for percussion in a shanty
A [*squints*] ~20 gun frigate with a crew of only 30-50? That’s sounds like a startup nightmare. You’d probably want double that to be comfortable.
“Get in on the ground floor of our fast paced, dynamic environment! Must be self starter willing to work watch-on-watch for the team. No sick days.”
It’s like a startup
Nice try IDF
Honestly, rope blisters don’t seem as bad as what I’m working with rn.
While I love the joking in the comments section, I can’t help but feel a bit sad.
I’d give almost anything for another sea going posting.
I can’t play any of those instruments but I know how to make hard tack edible and can reef a sail.
I’ve also got a copy of Lobscouse and Spotted Dog for making authentic sailor meals
oh hell yeah, I play upright bass
🎶 What will you do with a drunken sailor, what will you do with a drunken sailor? 🎶
I’d cut off my leg to attach a peg for the opportunity to be a pirate over my current job
