Ever since men first went to sea sailors have had to contend with bad weather. Pirates,
while fearless in a number of ways, knew very well how dangerous a storm could be. They
would have avoided sailing into bad weather if they saw a storm on the horizon, but weather
forecasts did not exist until 1859 so they were largely limited to their own visibility,
talk from other sailors, and folklore to predict a storm. Sailors put a lot of stock in
superstition and folklore. Sayings like “red sky at night, sailors’ delight. Red sky
at morning, sailors take warning” were passed down through generations. There is actually
some truth in that saying assuming the storm approaches from the west as is common in the
mid-latitudes. Sailors also tried to forecast based upon observations of how animals reacted
when bad weather was on the way.
Nearly all ships kept a cat onboard and oddly enough, on a ship at least, black cats were
said to be GOOD LUCK. A cat licking its fur against the grain meant a hailstorm, sneezes
meant rain, and if it was frisky it meant wind. In the event a cat was lost or thrown
overboard it was believed the cat would summon a terrible storm to sink the ship. Sailors
also avoided putting to sea on Fridays and on Candlemas believing these days were unlucky
and would result in the voyage ending in disaster.
While the barometer had been invented by the Golden Age of Piracy they were not very well
understood, expensive, and seldom carried on a ship. A pirate may have felt a rise of
moisture in the air and sailors certainly understood and paid attention to the wind;
along with any folklore and observation, this would have told them as much they knew when
at sea.
In the event a ship was sailing into a storm the crew would have secured any guns and moved
anything they could lower down into the hold for ballast. This would counteract the force
of wind and water and, hopefully, keep the ship from broaching. Broaching is when the
ships rudder becomes ineffective and can result in a ship capsizing. If the ship capsized,
or even heeled too far over, it would very likely take on enough water to cause it to
sink.
Another problem was the weight of the guns and shot on deck. A single 12 pounder cannon
weighed over 3000 pounds which would easily kill a man or destroy masts or bulkheads if
it was not secured. Even the shot, each ball weighing 12 pounds, could do a lot of damage.
Tables, chairs, pistols, swords, and the like were all stowed as well to prevent anyone
from being injured. Any sources of flame would have been extinguished to make sure they didn’t
fall and start a fire.
While the pirates below deck were securing these items the men on deck would begin by
tying lines around their waists in case someone went overboard. The crew would furl sails
leaving only enough sail up in order to maintain control. Masts would be braced as best as
possible too. The cargo hold was normally covered with grating so air could circulate
below. In a storm the pouring rain and seawater from waves crashing on the deck would easily
flood the ship. To prevent this these grates were covered with canvas, pulled tight, and
then secured with strips of wood called battens. This is where the phrase “batten down the
hatches” comes from.
At the helm the captain would ideally turn the ship in to the wind, at an angle as close
as possible to maintain forward momentum and hit the waves head on. Allowing the ship to
run with its back to the wind would expose the stern to the danger of waves breaking
on it which would quickly flood the ship or potentially crush it altogether under the
weight of the water. The idea was to keep enough speed to sail up the wave but not too
much that the masts would break.
Depending on where the ship was, in relation to land, could complicate things greatly.
A storm driving towards land was a sailors greatest fear as, eventually, the ship will
run aground and be left to the mercy of the sea. This is exactly what happened to the
1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, a group of 12 ships carrying goods from the New World along
with a large amount of gold bullion, and roughly 14 million silver pesos. The fleet set sail
from Havana, Cuba on July 24th, 1715 bound for Spain. A week later the ships sailed into
a hurricane which drove the ships toward land at Vero Beach, Florida. Around 2 in the morning
11 of the 12 ships were grounded or sunk.
The news of the wreck quickly spread and pirates sailed to salvage as much as they could. A
young, ex Royal Navy sailor from Cape Cod heard the story and quickly made plans to
sail to Florida. His name was Samuel Bellamy and a year later he and his crew would meet
the same fate as the Treasure Fleet. In late April 1718 Bellamy, now a captain, was sailing
the Whydah Gally, one of the largest pirate ships on the seas, north towards Cape Cod,
Massachusetts. The Whydah, crewed by 145, armed with 28 guns, and carrying over 4 tons
of silver and gold were returning from a very successful voyage.
Around sunset on April 26th the pirates were suddenly becalmed and shortly after a fog
rolled in separating the Whydah from the other 3 ships she was sailing with. The weather
quickly worsened, turning into a nor’easter, generating gale force winds from east by northeast
pushing the Whydah towards land. Around midnight, after rolling down a wave the Whydah’s bow
crashed onto a sandbar, shattering her the keel before capsizing. As she rolled over
60 cannon, most of which had been used for ballast, tore through the decks spilling her
riches across the ocean floor and trapping many of the men. Thomas Davis, one of only
two survivors later reported “In a quarter of an hour after the ship struck, the Mainmast
was carried by the board, and in the Morning she was beat to pieces”.
It’s likely far more pirates were killed in storms than by the authorities and it certainly
makes you respect sailors of the time period when you think about the relatively small
sizes of their ships and the distance they covered. Even today a storm at sea is not
taken lightly and, on average, 10 cargo ships sink each year.