Simon Simonson

Simonson was born in Dordrecht, Holland. Simonson moved around 1606 from Marseilles to Algiers, with experience as a shipbuilder, leaving his family behind. At Algiers, Simonson's fame quickly grew and within 3 years he was given the name Delli Reis by the locals. Simonson had been using captured ships and was teaching the Muslim captains how to sail them. He personally captured around 40 prizes all of which were incorporated into the corsair fleet. Simonson had also led the corsairs through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic. Once in the Atlantic, they hunted Spanish treasure fleets and raided as far north as Iceland. After reeking much havoc with the barbary corsairs, Simonson feeling homesick wished for a return home.

In 1609, his chance came. He used Jesuit priests which had been captured off Valencia to negotiate with the French court. The french conceded to his requests, and after a quarrel between his men and several Algerians erupted, he fled back to Marseilles. Simonson's flight from Algiers wasn't without consequence however for Simonson stole four ships and booty worth 400,000 crowns, as well as killing 150 Algerians and stealing two large brass cannons belonging to the Algerian government. Once back in Marseilles he rejoined his family and had his citizenship restored. In 1610, Simonson had a plan to raid the city of Algiers, which he presented to the royal court. His plans were denied but Simonson was paid to maintain a squadron patrolling against the corsairs. During one of his patrols, Simonson was captured by the corsairs, taken to Tunis, and there executed in 1616.

Captain Ralph Stout

In 1692 Ralph Stout was arrested in India while serving with James Kelley. The prisoners escaped 4 years later after stealing a boat. They made their way to Bombay and upon arriving they enlisted with Captain Edgecumbe aboard his ship the Mocha, an East Indiaman. Eight days after leaving port, Stout and other members of the crew seized the Mocha. Twenty-Seven of the crew escaped, reaching shore in the ship's boat. Captain Edgecumbe, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. He was bludgeoned to death with broken bottles and thrown to the sharks. The pirate's reward was £ 19,000 found aboard the ship. The crew elected Stout as their new captain.

Stout sailed their newly captured ship to Mergui Archipelago, which is southeast of Burma, where he ran into the merchant ship which had arrested Robert Culliford as well as others. Stout captured the ship and freed the prisoners and the freed pirates joined his crew.
In 1693 Stout cruised between India and the Strait of Malacca alongside the ship the Charming Mary. They were extremely successful, plundering at least seven ships and collected quite a bit of booty.
Stout was not adverse to torturing his prisoners as the following testifies: In February, 1697, after capturing a Portuguese ship, they hoisted a priest up with his hands tied over his head. The priest then had parts of his head sliced off by the pirates. A short time later the crew and passengers aboard another seized vessel were locked up in the hold and burned alive with the ship.
The two ships parted around April, 1697. The Charming Mary sailing for Sumatra and Stout sailing the Mocha to the Laccadive Islands. It was here that Stout met his end. One account has it that his men killed him because he wanted to retire. Another that he was slain by Malay seamen visiting the islands.

Pierre Le Grand

The Frenchman Pierre Le Grand was the first pirate to settle on Tortuga Island. Le Grand and 28 men captured the flagship (a galleon) of the Spanish treasure fleet off Cape Tiburon in western Hispaniola.
Le Grand spotted ship a lagging behind the Spanish Fleet and although he and his men numbered only 29, they swore an oath to fight to the death. To strengthen their resolve, Le Grand bore a hole in the bottom of their his ship, giving them no choice but to attack and win, for now they had no means of escape. Fortunately it was getting dark, they sailed alongside and snuck on board, cutlass in hand and pistols ready. Making their way for the cabin, the spanish crew offered no resistance. Caught totally by surprise and finding himself at gunpoint, the Captain surrendered. The capture would of been free of incident if not for Le Grand's overwhelming excitement.
Aside from a few Spaniards, which Le Grand drafted into service, he put the seaman of the captured ship ashore and sailed home for France.
The remainder of Pierre Le Grands life is purely speculative.

Captain Richard Worley

Richard Worley set out from New York with eight others in a small open boat; they were ill equipped and carried few supplies. The crew set out in late September 1718. Their ship was hardly seaworthy so they set out down the coast and up the Delaware River where they captured a boat laden with household goods (this was not constituted as piracy, but rather burglary since it did not take place upon the sea). The next prize taken by these men was more in keeping with their needs, a sloop out of Philadelphia. They took the sloop and increased the size of their band to 12. Within a couple more days they had taken another sloop that they felt more well kept than the prior ship and transferred to it.
At this time the governor issued a proclamation for the apprehension of all pirates who had not availed themselves of the King's pardon, and ordered out the Phoenix, a ship of 20 guns, to enforce this proclamation. However, Worley and his band set out to sea and missed the Phoenix which was searching for them in the coastal waters. Six weeks later the pirates returned, having taken another sloop and a brigantine among the Bahama Islands. The company had increased to 25 during this trip and their sloop now mounted 6 guns. Captain Worley and his crew had also adopted the skull and crossbones in their ensign (flag). Articles were signed and the crew were officially 'on account' that they would fight to the end, no quarter asked or given.
They were next sighted off North Carolina where they paused to clean and refit their ship. The governor received this information and outfitted two ships of 8 and 6 guns to trap the pirates, but to no avail as they were gone by the time the ships arrived. Unfortunately, Worley came in sight of the ships and mistaking them for merchants moved to prevent them from entering the Jamestown harbor. Instead of preventing their entry, he ended up trapping himself in the harbor with two ships blocking his escape. True to their articles the pirates fought to the end, taking a broadside from one of the Carolina ships before being boarded. All of the pirates died on board, except for the captain and one other, who were very seriously wounded. Both captured pirates were hanged the next day, February 17th 1719, for fear that their wounds might prevent them from receiving the punishment that was felt due.
We see what amounts to a five month run for these pirates. The small boat they set out in was most likely stolen and the best they could get given limited time before the season changed and weather worsened. Their start was meager but they soon found the means to pursue their goal. If they had not had some seamen skills it is unlikely that they would have survived out on the open seas.

Captain John Phillips

Phillips comes to light in the Golden Age of Piracy on the 19th of April 1721. It was on this day that the ship he traveled on to Newfoundland was taken by the pirate Anstis in the brigantine, Good Fortune. Phillips seems to have joined with the pirates and was appointed ship's carpenter. He stayed with Anstis until the crew broke up at Tobago, and sailed to England. He remained in England until he caught word of some of his past compatriots imprisoned in the Bristol Goal. Fearing that he might be found out, he shipped himself on a ship bound for Newfoundland.
Biding his time he and others seized a ship from the harbor and made their way to sea. They chose officers and set down articles to curb any disputes. This was when Phillips was made captain of their ship, the Revenge. Before leaving the area they took several fishing vessels and added to their crew from these. The ship arrived off Barbadoes where they took a couple of prizes, one by bluff alone, and further added to their crew.
The next stop was Tobago where they careened the ship and just finished and snuck away prior to the arrival of a Man of War. Then followed a bit of dissension; the pirates took a snow and some of the crew attempted to make off with the prize. Phillips gave chase and recaptured the ship. At this point there is some confusion, mention is made of the errant pirates being Fern, William Phillips, Wood and John Taylor; Taylor is said to have been wounded in the leg in the above mentioned fight, but then it is said that they had to remove Phillips' leg.
Going north from Tobago, the pirates took a Portugueze ship and two or three sloops; Fern again tried to quit the crew in one of these ships and was killed by Captain Phillips in accordance with the articles. On the 25th of March they took another two ships. Taking several more ships, including a sloop and schooner in early April, they made their way to Newfoundland, where they planned to take on more crew. Along the way they replaced their ship with sloop out of Cape Ann.
It was at this time that several of the crew, anxious to be done with pirating, mutinied and tossed several of the officers over the side. Taking control of the ship they changed course for Boston, where they arrived the 3rd of May. As there is no mention of John Phillips being tried with several others of the pirate crew, it can only be assumed that he died during the mutiny on April 18th, 1724.
Yet another pirate goes to his doom. The interesting point of Phillips story seems to be lack of confederacy between the crew and the officers. While many pirate crews were supposed to have been some sort of democracy, it seems odd that Phillips a relative to tyranny to have had so many dissatisfied crewmen. One of the items we have from Phillips are the articles from this last voyage.

'Jose de Espronceda' La canción del pirata

Con diez cañones por banda,
viento en popa, a toda vela,
no corta el mar, sino vuela
un velero bergantín.
Bajel pirata que llaman,
por su bravura, el Temido,
en todo mar conocido
del uno al otro confín.

The breeze fair aft, all sails on high,
Ten guns on each side mounted seen,
She does not cut the sea, but fly,
A swiftly sailing brigantine;
A pirate bark, the "Dreaded" named,
For her surpassing boldness famed,
On every sea well-known and shore,
From side to side their boundaries o'er.

La luna en el mar rïela,
en la lona gime el viento,
y alza en blando movimiento
olas de plata y azul;
y va el capitán pirata,
cantando alegre en la popa,
Asia a un lado, al otro Europa,
y allá a su frente Stambul:

The moon in streaks the waves illumes
Hoarse groans the wind the rigging through;
In gentle motion raised assumes
The sea a silvery shade with blue;
Whilst singing gaily on the poop
The pirate Captain, in a group,
Sees Europe here, there Asia lies,
And Stamboul in the front arise.

"Navega, velero mío,
sin temor,
que ni enemigo navío
ni tormenta, ni bonanza
tu rumbo a torcer alcanza,
ni a sujetar tu valor."

"Sail on, my swift one! nothing fear;
Nor calm, nor storm, nor foeman's force,
Shall make thee yield in thy career
Or turn thee from thy course."

Veinte presas
hemos hecho
a despecho
del inglés,
y han rendido
sus pendones
cien naciones
a mis pies.

Despite the English cruisers fleet
We have full twenty prizes made;
And see their flags beneath my feet
A hundred nations laid.

Que es mi barco mi tesoro,
que es mi dios la libertad,
mi ley, la fuerza y el viento,
mi única patria, la mar.

My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

Allá muevan feroz guerra
ciegos reyes
por un palmo más de tierra;
que yo aquí tengo por mío
cuanto abarca el mar bravío,
a quien nadie impuso leyes.

There blindly kings fierce wars maintain,
For palms of land, when here I hold
As mine, whose power no laws restrain.
Whate'er the seas infold.

Y no hay playa,
sea cualquiera,
ni bandera
de esplendor,
que no sienta
mi derecho
y dé pecho
a mi valor.

Nor is there shore around whate'er,
Or banner proud, but of my might
Is taught the valorous proofs to bear,
And made to feel my right.

Que es mi barco mi tesoro,
que es mi dios la libertad,
mi ley, la fuerza y el viento,
mi única patria, la mar.

My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

A la voz de "¡barco viene!"
es de ver
cómo gira y se previene
a todo trapo a escapar;
que yo soy el rey del mar,
y mi furia es de temer.

Look when a ship our signals ring,
Full sail to fly how quick she's veered!
For of the sea I am the king,
My fury's to be feared.

En las presas
yo divido
lo cogido
por igual;
sólo quiero
por riqueza
la belleza
sin rival.

But equally with all I share
Whate'er the wealth we take supplies;
I only seek the matchless fair,
My portion of the prize.

Que es mi barco mi tesoro,
que es mi dios la libertad,
mi ley, la fuerza y el viento,
mi única patria, la mar.

My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

¡Sentenciado estoy a muerte!
Yo me río;
no me abandone la suerte,
y al mismo que me condena,
colgaré de alguna entena,
quizá en su propio navío.

I am condemned to die ! – I laugh;
For, if my fates are kindly sped,
My doomer from his own ship's staff
Perhaps I'll hang instead.

Y si caigo,
¿qué es la vida?
Por perdida
ya la di,
cuando el yugo
del esclavo,
como un bravo,
sacudí.

And if I fall, why what is life?
For lost I gave it then as due,
When from slavery's yoke in strife
A rover! I withdrew.

Que es mi barco mi tesoro,
que es mi dios la libertad,
mi ley, la fuerza y el viento,
mi única patria, la mar.

My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

Son mi música mejor
aquilones,
el estrépito y temblor
de los cables sacudidos,
del negro mar los bramidos
y el rugir de mis cañones.

"My music is the Northwind's roar;
The bellowings of the Black Sea's shore,
And rolling of my guns.

Y del trueno
al son violento,
y del viento
al rebramar,
yo me duermo
sosegado,
arrullado
por el mar.

And as the thunders loudly sound,
And furious the tempests rave,
I calmly rest in sleep profound,
So rocked upon the wave.

Que es mi barco mi tesoro,
que es mi dios la libertad,
mi ley, la fuerza y el viento,
mi única patria, la mar.

My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

Captain Lawrence Prince

Lawrence Prince was born in Amsterdam. In 1670, he sailed from Port Royal, Jamaica to Colombia. He had plans to take the town of Mompos which was over 150 miles inland, part of the trip was up the Magdalena River. Upon their arrival they found a new fort on an island river. The pirates were drove back with cannon fire. Prince was determined not to return to Port Royal empty handed. In August he sailed for Nicaragua and was successful in an almost indentical scheme. He sailed up the San Juan River, captured the fort and took canoes up to Lake Nicaragua where they pillaged the city of Granada.
The Spanish report of the incident states, "made havoc and a thousand destructions, sending the head of a priest in a basket and saying that he would deal with the rest of the prisoners in the same way unless they gave him 70,000 pesos in ransom."
Considering that the city had been sacked by Henry Morgan and John Morris in 1664 they were only able to raise a small portion of the ransom. prince having his bluff called, returned to Port Royal.
Modyford, Governor of Jamaica, sent Prince to join Morgan's Panamanian expedition. Morgan, seeing Prince to be a man of much spirit, made him third in command after himself and Edward Collier. After the raid, the English government sent Thomas Lynch to Jamaica to arrest Modyford and Morgan for their piratical activities. Lynch, not having sufficient force to outright arrest Morgan, decided to try ingratiating himself to the pirates. Prince was made Lynch's lieutenant and under the governorship of Lynch thrived at Jamaica, having his own plantation.

Captain Manuel Pardal Rivero

Spain, a long time victim of pirating, suffering heavy losses from the pirates and deciding that Sir Henry Morgan's Portobelo raid in 1669 was the last straw, sanctioned the governors of its colonies in the procurement of privateers and disbursement of ''Letters of Marque''. Few pirates responded to this act, but Rivero, who was Portuguese, did and rushed out to seek enemy nation's ships to prey upon.
In 1670, Rivero, in command of the San Pedro left Cartagena for Jamaica but but was forced to change course because of winds. Rivero sacked the poor settlement on Grand Cayman Island and seized two small boats as well as taking four children. With his meager booty, he went to Cuba. Once there he found out that Bernard Speirdyke, the dutch pirate, was at Manzanillo. Rivero set out to do battle with Speirdyke. Rivero was victorious in the battle and seized the Dutchman's ship.
Rivero returned to a hero's welcome in Cartagena in March 1670 and was made admiral of the Spanish corsairs. Rivero next went to Jamaica with two ships and captured a sloop and raided isolated villages in the north. His next venture took him to the southern coast of Jamaica where he issued a challenge to Henry Morgan:

I, Captain Manuel Pardal, to the chief of the privateers in Jamaica.
I come to seek General Henry Morgan, with 2 ships and twenty'one guns. When he has seen this challenge, I beg that he will come out and seek me, that he may see the valour of the Spaniards.

Governor Modyford of Jamaica commissioned Morgan to defend Jamaica. Morgan assembled all French and English pirates that were at Jamaica and set sail, but instead of looking for Rivero, they sailed to Panama and sacked the town. While all this was going on, John Morris encountered Rivero off the Cuban coast. Rivero's ship was boarded by Morris' men. The crew panicked and jumped overboard, where they either drowned or were shot by Morris' men. Morgan chased Rivero ashore and shot him to death in 1670.

Piet Heyn

Piet Heyn was a Dutch Privateer who haunted the seas around 1620s. He was considered a pirate by the Spaniards. "Buena Guerra! GoodWar!" was the battle cry of the Dutch Privateers or Zeerovers. Piet Heyn was a terror to the Spanish Main particularly around the island of Cuba. Heyn started out as a Dutch privateer of little consequence but after being captured by the Spaniards and enslaved in a ship's galley things changed. He was eventually freed in a prisoner exchange and took on duties as a captain of privateering ship.
Heyn was involved in several raids, Dutch West India Company Raid on Brazil in 1623, and in 1628 the capture of the silver fleet - galleons that collected the gold and silver along the coast from Panama to Mexico.
Heyn, who commanded a fleet of around 30 ships, knew the silver fleet would meet in Havana before heading out to Spain. So Heyn sailed toward Havana to make his fortune. Benavides, the Spanish Admiral, and his second in command Don Jaun de Loez saw the approach of Heyn's privateer fleet and according to witnesses attempted to avoid contact. Benavides claimed that he had attacked the Dutch fleet, but in real his ships were boarded by the Dutch before they could fire a single cannon. The Spanish Galleons were loaded with so much treasure that they had blocked many of their gun ports, making it impossible to effectively engage the Dutch privateers. Heyn's men quickly boarded the Spanish ships right in view of Havana, looted the valuable cargo for several days before sailing back to the Netherlands with over 34 tons of silver. Along with him he took around fifteen captured Spanish ships as well as his original fleet. The rest of the Spanish fleet was burned in Havana harbor.
When the battle had begun Benavides had deserted his ship in a row boat and was heading for the shore. He later testified that he had given orders for the ships to be burned and evacuated.
Heyn returned to the Netherlands as a hero, Benavides and de Loez were tried for cowardice and desertion. Benavides was beheaded and de Loez imprisoned for life.
Heyn enjoyed his status as Dutch hero for a few years. In March 1629, Hein received command of the Dutch navy being the first admiral who did not belong to the nobility. Hein was mortally wounded while attacking the pirates from Dunkirk and Ostend under Spanish commission on June 18th, 1629.

Captain John Coxon

John Coxon was one of the most famous "Brethren of the Coast". We pick up the story of John Coxon around 1677, when, in the company of other English Buccaneers, he was involved in the surprise attack and plunder of the town of Santa Marta on the Spanish Main. Coxon was actually responsible for the kidnapping of Santa Marta's Governor and Bishop.
A couple years later, Coxon met up with several other Privateers in Jamaica for the eventual raid in the Gulf of Honduras. This raid was a quite successful. Within the same year, Coxon and his crew joined forces with such noteworthy companions as Sharp and Essex, and set sail to sack Porto Bello.
The attack was an arduous task. It was suicidal to sail into Porto Bello and attack from the sea, so the pirates were forced to land twenty leagues away. This led to a four day march through the jungle, three days of which were without food. By the time the pirates arrived, their feet were a bloody mess and they were half starved. Despite these adversities, the pirates plundered the town in quick order and made their escape before the nearby fleet could react. Their plunder came to about 100 pieces of eight per man.
This last act prompted the Governor of Jamaica, Lord Carlisle, to issue warrants for Coxon and his crew. Shortly afterwards, Sir Henry Morgan issued similar warrants as acting Governor. Nothing became of these warrants. Not satisfied with his latest take in Porto Bello, Coxon again met up with some of his brethren and proceeded to plunder the town of Santa Maria and crossed the Isthmus of Darien.
Coxon was a hot tempered man and had a falling out with the other sea captains, (Captain Sawkins and Harris) and the three went their separate ways. Sawkins and Harris returned to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus while Coxon continued by Indian canoe to the Pacific Coast. There they found two sloops which they stole and then proceeded toward Panama where they attacked the Spanish Fleet and after a brief battle actually captured it.
Coxon once again had a falling out with his brother pirates and along with 78 other men took off on foot to return across the Isthmus. By now, Coxon was considered a hero in Jamaica and was given letters to attack a troublesome French pirate Jean Hamlin, although he never found him.

Coxon continued his piratical deeds, often under the guise of a letter of marque for several more years. He was often arrested but never hanged. His ship's name was lost over the ages but his last known ship was of eighty tons, armed with eight guns and a crew of 97 men.

His life, like his ship's name ends in obscurity.