Bristol Ships captured by Pirates

Royal Fortune - 1721
Bartholomew Roberts

Bartholomew Roberts was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1682.  

He was third mate on a Bristol slaver in 1719 off the coast of Africa, when fellow Welshman, Howell Davis, attacked. Roberts joined Davis, who was killed a few weeks later on Sao Tome. Roberts led the pirates to safety & was elected to replace their dead captain.

They then sailed across the Atlantic to South America.  A few weeks later they came upon a fleet of forty-two Portuguese treasure galleons & two warships anchored off the coast of Brazil. The pirates sailed alongside the heaviest laden ship & fired a full broadside. They boarded the ship, captured it & headed for the open sea, outrunning the pursuing warships. They acquired the cargo including jewels & 40,000 gold moidores ($130,000) & a diamond studded gold cross, intended for King of Portugal.

They raided north through the West Indies and up as far as Newfoundland. They sailed into Trepassey in Newfoundland, in a sloop with only ten guns & sixty men. With 'colors flying, drums beating & trumpets sounding.' The crews of the twenty-two ships at anchor in the harbor, immediately withdrew & fled to safety on shore.

Roberts had several ships; his original ships, the Ranger & then other vessels he captured, all three he renamed Royal Fortune. One (the second) was a Bristol ship, the third French.

Some time later, Roberts & his men were back in the West Indies. They escaped warships from the islands of Martinique and Barbados, that were out to get him. 

Roberts ranged back to Africa.  Captain Chaloner Ogle, commander of the warship Swallow, had been sent to capture him. On Feburary 5, 1722, Ogle found Roberts & his three ships anchored in Cape Lopez, West Africa. Believing that the Swallow was a merchantman, Roberts sent the Ranger out after her. She headed for open seas. Out of sight of the harbor, Ogle ordered his men to attack. Ten pirates were killed & twenty wounded before surrendering. Ogle swiftly returned to Cape Lopez for the remaining pirates. Roberts, seeing that the Swallow was a warship, ordered the Royal Fortune to sail for the open seas.  The Swallow heading straight for the Royal Fortune and fired a broadside which toppled the Royal Fortunes mizzenmast. When the smoke cleared, Roberts was slumped over a cannon, dead. 

Bartholomew Roberts, was a strict disciplinarian. He never drank liquor, only tea. He held religious services aboard ship & in the four years that he raged upon the seas he & his men had captured & plundered more than 400 ships.