The Scarborough

One thing that might help is alittle more context on the question. Is there some documentation you were reading that you are unsure about? Letting the community know what inspired you to ask might point us in the right direction. Hoping you find what you are looking for! -The Scarborough

if you are looking for steampunk pirates this would be a solid place to start. It is the first book in the series, with clothing, weapons, and locations based greatly off of pirates with a steampunk flair. if you like it let me know!

It all depended on the size of the ship. Marshes were used by the lafittes as smugglers hideaways, and could also be used as a safe haven for boat cleaning. Boat cleaning was important, a dirty hull meant less knots. If your looking at rivers as well blackbeard spent alot of his carear doing river pirating, it made things easier as long as you knew no one was attempting to capture you. As for marshes, a common tactic when you were outnumbered or facing a heavier vessal was to go into shallow water, hope they beach themselves, or if it gets too rough you beach yourself and retreat into the marshes. Desperate pirates would have a enemy follow them into a narrow area, set a ship on fire and send it towards the enemy ship. Althoguh not allows sucessful, this proved a valid strategy vs standing targets such as beached men of war, ships trapped in harbor or forts. However, once you got out of your boat and into the marshes your chances of escape lowered significantly(Lafittes excluded), as the royal navy or whoever it was most likely outnumbered you or could send for reinforcements

Hello pyracy! This being my first post, i would like to start off with possibly the most underrated pirate captain: John Taylor. If your a big pirate afficianado, you may recall Taylor as the man who sacked England from his position after one of the largest pirate prizes being taken from the ship Cassandra; a booty worth tens of millions of dollars in modern currency. However, his story does not end there, and from the accounts of his deeds it is a shame he is known as a mere footnote in the shadow of E. England. Captain Taylor, although not the flashiest, most bloodthirsty, or richest pirate, is probably the most efficient pirate to ever sail. Taylor, unlike the overly sympathetic England or the cruel crew murdering Bart Roberts, maintained a healthy medium; instagating just enough fear while maintaining a steady influx of prizes to keep the crew complacent. Unlike most pirates, who ended there careers in violent deaths, Taylors end is a mystery; a mark of a sucessful crimanal, or "the one that got away" persay. He kept good political standings with the dutch and spanish, allowing him a net of safe havens as well as a way to actually spend his gains. Many pirates, while successful in taking valuable prizes, did not have a way to launder the goods to create a profit unless they were given privateer status from a powerful nation. Taylor was able to use bribery and intamadation to get the goveners of many settlements/colonies to give him anything he reasonably desired. The Dutch, upon seeing him on several occasions, were overjoyed at his presence and the value contained within. Having sailed the caribbean and the coasts of Africa, he is also well traveled. He was the bane of the English, who sent out dozens if not well over a hundred ships and men of war to put an end to him without even the slightest bit of success. His path of destruction was vast, as he would burn or take prize of his captures at leasure it is hard to calculate how many hundreds of ships were sacked by him and his crew. One highley succesful raid, although paled by the prize of the Cassandra raked in an estimated four miilion dollars ( valued a the time of capture) of diamonds and precious valuables. In the end, reports indicate he was given a postion in the spanish navy, complete with his own man of war; although it has never been confirmed and was only rumoured. So i am opening up a discussion, why is Taylor so unknown compared to less succesful pirates such as Kidd or Roberts? Do you feel he deserves more merit, or do you have a differing opinion? These are a general outline for discussion, but any thoughts or debates are greatly welcome! looking foward to hearing from you scurvy dogs- The Scarborough