Galley (3m).
L:
ca. 124 (38m). Tons:
285 bm. Hull:
wood. Comp.:
152. Arm.:
34 × 12pdr. Built:
Castle Yard, Deptford, Eng.; 1695.
Adventure Galley was a three-masted ship equipped with thirty-six oars as auxiliary propulsion. In 1696, Captain William Kidd was made captain and, armed with a privateer's commission from William III, set out from England to capture enemy commerce, mainly that of France and Spain. Of obscure background, the Scottish-born Kidd had settled in New York after years as a pirate in the Caribbean. In 1695, Kidd had sailed his merchant ship Antigua to London with a view to acquiring a letter of marque that would enable him to sail as a privateer. Kidd's brief also included the right to attack pirates of any nationality, especially those who preyed on the valuable trade routes of the Indian Ocean.
Adventure Galley sailed on April 6, 1696, and captured a French fisherman in the North Atlantic. On September 6, having recruited a further ninety crew in New York, she sailed for the Indian Ocean via Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands, landing at Tulear, Madagascar, on January 27, 1697. En route, Kidd fell in with a squadron of Royal Navy ships and impressed the officers as a would-be pirate rather than a privateer with the King's commission. Rumors of this spread quickly and British merchants kept their distance. After repairs in the Comoros, Adventure Galley sailed for the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea to intercept one of the richly laden ships of the Muslim pilgrim fleet, which sailed under the protection of European traders. On August 15, Adventure Galley slipped in among a convoy guarded by two Dutch ships and the East India Company's Sceptre, whose captain intimidated Kidd into withdrawing. Kidd then headed for the Malabar Coast of India where he captured a number of prizes, fought off two Portuguese warships from Goa, and had several run-ins with the East India Company. In March 1698, Adventure Galley—in company with the prizes Quedah Merchant and Rupparell—sailed for the island of Saint Marie off the northeast coast of Madagascar. Adventure Galley was in wretched condition and eventually sank there. Kidd left the island in Quedah Merchant, which ran aground and was burned on Hispaniola after Kidd had sold off what remained of her valuable cargo of textiles.
Upon his return to North America, Kidd was imprisoned and returned to England. A valuable pawn in a political game between William III's Whig supporters, who had backed his venture, and the opposition Tories, who were now in the ascendancy, Kidd was tried for and found guilty of murder and piracy, and then twice hanged (the rope broke the first time). His remains were put on display at Tilbury Point on the Thames as a warning to others.
Ritchie, Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates.
