Privateers and Pirates
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Jean Bart
- Joost Banckert
- Willem Bastiaanszoon (±1620 - 1704)
- Dutch merchant and mariner in the Dutch navy. He was born in Haarlem. He took part in the war between the Dutch Republic and France (1672 - 1678) and was active against the privateers from Duinkerken in 1676. He was active against Sweden in the service of Denmark from 1676 to 1678 and transported Willem III in 1688 to England on board his frigate Den Briel.
- Jacob Janssen van den Bergh
- Dutch privateer in the seventeenth century whos nickname was "Japon". He was in the service of the Dutch West Indies Company until he was caught and convicted for smuggling slaves in areas where the WIC had the sole patent for this "business". Later on he captained the ship the Kater. As captain of the ship St. Pieter he transported slaves to Curaçao and the Spanish harbours in the Caribbean. In 1660 he was active as a privateer on board the ship Sinjoor. The records show that he was among the survivors of a ship called the Zeelandia. The ship had sunk in the area of the West Indies. Later on he was trading slaves again and applied for a captancy on board the ship Middelburg of the WIC.
- Jacob Binckes
- Jan Bont
- Dutch privateer who lived in the second half of the seventeenth century. He commanded a squadron that was part of a fleet under the command of Jacob Binckes. This fleet sailed from the Dutch Republic to the Caribbean where they proceeded to attack the island Cayenne, the island St. Maarten and the coast of Guadeloupe. Afterwards De Bont set sail with his squadron fot the Island Tobago, while Binckes sailed to Santa Domingo with the rest of the fleet.
- Louis de Boisot (±1530 - 1576)
- Lord of Ruart. After 1567 he joined the watergeuzen. He took part in a battle under Willem van Oranje in 1572. He was escort on its way to France when he was captured. He managed to escape, however. In 1573 he became Admiral of Zeeland and in 1574 he was Lieutenan-Admiral of Holland and Zeeland. On 29 January 1574 he managed to defeat the fleet under the command of Luis de Resquesens y Zúñiga (1528 - 1576) who was the succesor of the Spanish governor of the Dutch Republic Fernando Alvarez de Toledo (1507 - 1582). This battle freed the city of Middelburg from the Spanish rule. In 1576 Boisot drowned near Zierikzee during a battle to free this city from the Spanish rule as well.
- Jan de Bouff
- Privateer who operated from Duinkerken in the service of Spain in the year 1602. In December of this year he set sail from Duinkerken when three French fishing-boats were sighted. When he was out at sea, six Dutch vessels came to their aid from the direction of the port of Oostende. Three privateer vessels from Duinkerken came to the aid of De Bouff. Two Dutch vessels were captured in the battle and the other four abandoned the fight.
- Johan van Brakel (±1618 - 1690)
- Dutch naval officer. In 1687 he was rear-Admiral in a fleet that was active against the Barbary corsairs. He died in battle during the Nine-Year War with France.
- Thobias Bridge
- English privateer who attacked the island of Tobago in 1671 (the year before the Third English War, 1672 - 1674). He sailed from Barbados with 6 ships to the island carrying 600 soldiers on board. After the surrender by the Dutch colonists Bridge captured the island. The French colonists on the island were transported to Martinique (France was an ally of England, also during the Third Engish War). The Dutchmen were allowed to leave, but the cattle and the slaves had to be left behind. The cannons of the fort were also transported to Barbados and used there in its defence. Before Bridge left the fort, the houses and every other structure on the island Tobago were destroyed.
- Manuel Butiens
- Privateer who operated from Duinkerken in the service of Spain in the year 1645. In October of this year he managed to capture twelve fishing-boats with his ship. Some of these he sunk. A number of these were later retaken. Captain Butiens brought three vessels to Duinkerken.
- Nathaniel Butler
- English privateer who sailed for several years in the service of the Earl of Warwick. From 1619 to 1622 he was the Governor of the Island of Bermuda. In 1623 he stayed briefly in the colony of Virginia. At the age of 61 he became the Admiral of the Island of Providence. He served the Providence Island Company in 1639 and 1640. During a privateering voyage in 1639 (May to September) he captured a Spanish firgate at the harbour of Trujillo (port at Honduras) which proved to be a very poor prize. Afterwards he sailed very erratically through the Caribbean. The captains of his ships were not very good and were also unfamiliar with the area.
© Blood.gif / by Rick Vermunt (without permission :-)
