Instructor: Saucy Jack

 
This lesson is geared more about navies ability to pursue pirates than the specifics of ship design, construction and types. Our discussion on naval ships will cover the Golden Age of Piracy through the early 1800's. During this time frame naval ships were designed to fight similar ships of warring nations. Designs ranged from the small coastal cutter, the serviceable frigates, and Transports, to the mighty 1st rate ships of the line.

These well armed vessels were designed more for fighting in a line of battle than  chasing the smaller swift pirate ships. The size and mission of many, on station, naval ships were great for their designed mission but ill suited for capturing the shallow drafted, fast sailing ships used by pirates among the shallow waters of islands of the Caribbean and North American coasts.

It was not until the early 19th century that the United States and British navies established squadrons of smaller craft to solve the piracy problems. Of particular note was Commodore David Porter's famous "Mosquito Fleet of the early 1820's. The Fleet was based in Key West, Florida and used 16 shallow draft vessels Which included armed brigs, fast Baltimore schooners, an early paddle wheel steamer and a decoy merchant ship with hidden guns. The Fleet operated in the Gulf of Mexico and along the coast of Cuba. Commodore Porter's aggressive operation in Cuban waters, created some diplomatic problems which when solved, proved to be devastating to the local pirates. By 1825 the Mosquito Fleet ,along with the British navy,  had captured, killed or forced out of business hundreds of pirates. A hand full of pirates continued to operate as late as the 1830's but piracy as a whole was all but over.

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