"Merchant Ship defence against Pirates" Topic

Hello, I am doing some research on merchant ships of the mid 18th Century for a pet project and I am wondering how merchant vessels would defend themselves against other ships, most importantly more agile sloops and frigates operated by pirates. I imagine a mix of marines, cannon or simply trying to out sail them. References to books would also be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

By and large they didn't! Apart from the trading companies EIC, VOC etc who were heavily armed and also sometimes carried marines of some sort, the majority were under armed and certainly did not carry soldiers (super – cargo eating into profits). Flight and trying to out-sail predators was the favoured tactic. Unfortunately a lot of merchantmen were built more for comfort (or capacity) than speed and often even with the weather gauge were always on a hiding to nothing.

Most merchant ships had a very small crew and no armament to speak of. In other words they were a sitting duck to any aspiring pirate. You would only find marines on a navy ship. Merchantmen tended to be big and slow so had little chance of outsailing a well handled pirate vessel.

Such was the pirate scourge that in the late 18th and early 19th century some merchant ships were equipped with cannon and referred to as armed merchantmen. The classic example are the East Indiamen.

(super – cargo eating into profits

A supercargo was the member of the crew with direct responsibility for the cargo.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercargo

Or they sailed in convoys with escort--like the annual Spanish treasure fleet.

Rob

Agree that most merchant vessels would try to run from trouble, and would surrender without a fight if caught.

Pirates didn't actually like to fight either. If a target looked too resolute and well defended to handle easily, a pirate would usually pass by and look for easier prey.

Barbary pirates loved to swoop down on unarmed fishing boats. The crews themselves were the loot, kidnapped into slavery, possibly to be ransomed for a price.

Some merchant ships carried a gun or two. If chased they would haul it around to the stern and take pot shots at their pursuer, trying to bring down a mast or otherwise discourage the chase.

Another tactic was for the merchant captain and his crew to batten down the hatches, barricade themselves in the great cabin, allow the pirates to board, and shoot as many as they could with small arms as they appeared on the main deck. If the crew could keep control of the main deck they might fight the pirates off, but if the pirates broke into the cabin, the crew could expect little mercy.

The Yankee lay low down with gold,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
She was broad and fat and loose in stays
But to catch her took the Antelope two whole days
them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

Then at length we stood two cables away,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
Our cracked four pounders made an awful din
But with one fat ball the Yank stove us in
them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

Generally agree with the above, BUT it's also important to point out that practice varied widely with time, location and current events. By the mid-18th century the 'Golden Age of Piracy' was definitely in the past, so merchantmen engaged in trans-Atlantic trade carrying more than a signaling gun or the like would be the exception. Ships sailing to India or China might be armed, as piracy was still a problem in and around South-East Asia (East Indiamen, as was mentioned). In wartime you *might* see some merchants from either side carry a few guns to discourage small privateers, or sometimes they carried guns with the intent in engaging in some privateering themselves if the chance arose (this was very common for American merchants during the American Revolution).

-Will

I don't think there were that many pirate frigates or ship- sloops. My understanding is that anything bigger than a schooner was rare. A pirate ship throwing a 350 lb broadside is a nice thought though.

Not totally unknown though; Queen Anne's Revenge was classified as a Frigate, for example. But yes, large ships were the exception rather than the rule, if you're talking about completely independent pirates. Privateers with state backing were another matter.

-Will

If they were lucky, and could sail faster, or avoid them, that was best.

Not very likely though, so usually surrender was the next best option.

There were a few fairly well-armed merchants, like La Concorde (Queen Anne's Revenge), but they rarely had the crew to man the guns. IIRC, most of the LC's crew were ill, so she surrendered rather quickly.

There were a few pirate frigates – Black Bart had one, and the QAR was rather well armed. Some of the earlier pirate era vessels were as well, but most pirate vessels were sloops, or brigs, which sometimes worked together to take down prey.

The Antelope sloop was a sickening sight,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
She'd a list to the port and her sails in rags
And the cook in scuppers with the staggers and the jags
them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

While there were a couple of Barbary Pirate frigates the reality, especially of Caribbean Piracy was simple, bigger ships meant more crew which meant more men and more shares of any money. Pirates were in it for the money, in fact there is speculation that Blackboard deliberately ran Queen Anne's Revenge aground to disburse some of his crew, in fact he did maroon some. Ideally Pirates liked small, fast ships, if they ran into a warship their best bet was to run themselves. Merchants, if they couldn't outrun them, generally simply surrendered to Pirates, hoping to escape with their lives.

On the EIC / VOC etc. the principal threat was European privateers – (Ben Averey, Capt. Kidd, Robert Surcouf).
Other threats included Arabian Corsairs, (similar to Barbary Coast types but preferred to use Sambuks and Baghalas as opposed to the Xebecs and galleys of the Med.) In the Malayan Archipelago the threat came from Dyaks in Prahuas whilst around Vietnam and China the threat was Ladrones in Junks.
In each case the principal threat was from boarding rather than gunnery and all East Indiamen were equipped with anti-boarding netting as standard. this is particularly so as an Indiaman was crewed at 12 men per 100 tons.
An Indiaman's principal defence was bluff, they were built and painted to look like warships including a false gun deck and even dummy guns. Visually a 500 ton Indiaman was a close match for a 32 gun Frigate, an 800 Ton ship looked like a 50 gun warship and a 1200 ton Chinaship looked like a 64 gun third rate ship of the line.
Actual armament would be around 18 guns for a 500 ton, 30 guns for an 800 ton and 36 guns for a 1200 ton. In peace time this would be 2 thirds 12pdrs, 1 third 9pdrs whilst in wartime it was 2 thirds 18pdrs and 1 third 12pdrs.
However the small crew meant only one side of the ship could be manned so being caught between two enemy vessels resulted in surrender.
The Co. would also equip a number of 800 ton ships as 'Company Cruisers' with a Letter of Marque issued to the captain, cargo trans-shipped to other vessels and extra guns and crew brought from Presidency Arsenals, these could be deployed for convoy duty, patrolling or as troop ships. See Capture of Capetown, Ceylon, Batavia and Mauritius, also the HEICS General Goddard capturing a VOC convoy 15th June 1797.
This contrasts with the efforts of the French Marine Nationale under Admiral Sercey at the Battle of Sunda Strait 17th Jan 1797, and Admiral Linois at the Battle of Pulo Auro 15th Feb 1804.

Books:
The Honourable Company – John Keay
Trade in the Eastern Seas 1793-1815 – C N Parkinson
War in the Eastern Seas 1793-1815 – C N Parkinson
Storm & Conquest – Stephen Taylor

Thank you, Redline – for both a highly informative post and the book recommendations!

B

Any time mate.

For a more visceral account you might want to look at the 'Country Ships', particularly those trading opium out of Calcutta, such as Captain Robert Eastwick.
link