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Introduction

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically intending to steal cargo and valuable goods, or take hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, and vessels used for piracy are called pirate ships. The earliest documented instances of piracy date to the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilizations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy, as well as for privateering and commerce raiding.

Historic examples of such areas include the waters of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca, Madagascar, the Gulf of Aden, and the English Channel, whose geographic structures facilitated pirate attacks. The term piracy generally refers to maritime piracy, although the term has been generalized to refer to acts committed on land, in the air, on computer networks, and (in science fiction) outer space. Piracy usually excludes crimes committed by the perpetrator on their own vessel (e.g., theft) as well as privateering, which implies authorization by a state government.

Piracy, or pirating, is the name of a specific crime under customary international law and also of many crimes under the municipal law of many states. In the 21st century, seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue, with estimated worldwide losses of US$25 billion in 2023, increased from US$16 billion in 2004. (Full article...)

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Etching of Grutte Pier, from Chronycke ofte Historische Geschiedenis van Frieslant, published in 1622

Pier Gerlofs Donia (c. 1480 – 28 October 1520) was a Frisian farmer, rebel leader, and pirate. He is best known by his West Frisian nickname Grutte Pier ('Big Pier'; in the pre-1980 West Frisian spelling written as Greate Pier), or by the Dutch translation Grote Pier, which referred to his legendary size, strength, and bravery.

His life is mostly shrouded in legend. Based upon a description now attributed to Pier's contemporary Petrus Thaborita, the 19th-century Dutch historian Conrad Busken Huet wrote that Grutte Pier was

“

A tower of a fellow as strong as an ox, of dark complexion, broad shouldered, with a long black beard and moustache. A natural rough humorist, who through unfortunate circumstances was recast into an awful brute. Out of personal revenge for the bloody injustice that befell him (in 1515) with the killing of kinsfolk and destruction of his property he became a freedom fighter of legendary standing.

”

(Full article...)

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Spanish replenishment oiler Patiño in 2004

On 12 January 2012 Somali pirates attacked the Spanish Navy replenishment oiler Patiño after mistaking her for a large merchant ship. The pirate skiff hit Patiño with automatic fire before being repelled, damaged by return fire and captured after a brief chase by the vessel's helicopter. The encounter took place off the coast of Somalia and ended with the death of one pirate and the capture of six others. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

... that the pirate anime streaming site HiAnime had more visitors than legal competitors like Crunchyroll or Disney+?
... that a search engine for pirated books has been used to train large language models?
... that a Dutch publisher pirated the first four volumes of Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality, then hired the author to write more?
... that Queen Eschiva and her children were kidnapped by the pirate Kanakes after her husband put a bounty on him?
... that Black Sheep Radio dedicated its first day of programming to a fallen pirate?
... that North Korea thanked the United States for helping its sailors defeat a group of pirates?

... that there is only one account of walking the plank?
... that, unlike traditional Western societies of the time, many pirate clans operated as limited democracies, demanding the right to elect and replace their leaders?
... that red Jolly Roger flags were the most feared of all; all prayed they never encountered the "Bloody Red," which boldly declared that no mercy would be shown and all victims would be killed?

Archive

Selected quotations

“

This man was a real-life Goliath; sadly, there was no David who could stand up against him!

”

— unknown)

More quotations...

General images

The following are images from various piracy-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1British captain witnessing the miseries of Christian slaves in Algiers, 1815 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 2Battle of Preveza, 1538 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 3Views of Ulcinj in 1718 bz H. C. Bröckell (from Albanian piracy)
Image 4Bartholomew Roberts' crew carousing at the Calabar River; illustration from The Pirates Own Book (1837). Roberts is estimated to have captured over 470 vessels. (from Piracy)
Image 5The Barbary corsairs frequently attacked Corsica, resulting in many Genoese towers being erected. (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 6Aerial photograph of the Niger Delta, a center of piracy (from Piracy)
Image 7A person costumed in the character of captain Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp's lead role in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (from Piracy)
Image 8Bombardment of Algiers by Lord Exmouth in August 1816, Thomas Luny (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 9Cossacks of Azov fighting a Turk ship by Grigory Gagarin (from Piracy)
Image 10A fight between Filipino pirates, Bugis trading ship, and Dutch mariners. (from Piracy)
Image 11Suspected Somali pirates keep their hands in the air (from Piracy)
Image 12The traditional "Jolly Roger" flag of piracy (from Piracy)
Image 13Hanging of Captain Kidd; illustration from The Pirates Own Book (1837) (from Piracy)
Image 14Born to a noble family in Puerto Rico, Roberto Cofresí was the last notably successful pirate in the Caribbean. (from Piracy)
Image 15MARCOS commando units of the Indian Navy intervening on a pirate-flagged vessel as a part of Operation Sankalp (from Piracy off the coast of Somalia)
Image 16A man from the Barbary states (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 17The work of the Mercedarians was in ransoming Christian slaves held in Muslim hands, Histoire de Barbarie et de ses Corsaires, 1637 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 18Blackbeard's severed head hanging from Maynard's bowsprit; illustration from The Pirates Own Book (1837) (from Piracy)
Image 19The Monument of the Four Moors by Pietro Tacca; Livorno, Italy (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 20A French ship under attack by Barbary pirates, ca. 1615 (from Piracy)
Image 21A mosaic of a Roman trireme in Tunisia (from Piracy)
Image 22A Sea Fight with Barbary Corsairs by Laureys a Castro, c. 1681 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 23Iban war prahu in Skerang river (from Piracy)
Image 24Extent of pirate attacks on shipping vessels in the Indian Ocean between 2005 and 2010. (from Piracy off the coast of Somalia)
Image 25A Barbary pirate, Pier Francesco Mola, 1650 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 26Somalia's coral reefs, ecological parks and protected areas (from Piracy off the coast of Somalia)
Image 271890 illustration by Rafael Monleón of a late 18th-century Iranun lanong warship. The Malay word for "pirate", lanun, originates from an exonym of the Iranun people (from Piracy)
Image 28An Algerine pirate ship (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 29The Bombardment of Algiers by the Anglo-Dutch fleet in 1816 to support the ultimatum to release enslaved Europeans (from Piracy)
Image 30Armed pirates in the Indian Ocean near Somalia. After the picture was taken, the vessel's crew members opened fire on U.S. Navy ships and the ship's crew members returned fire. One suspected pirate was killed and 12 were taken into custody (see engaged pirate vessels). (from Piracy off the coast of Somalia)
Image 311724 engraving of Bonny from A General History of the Pyrates (from Piracy)
Image 32Modern reconstruction of skull alleged to have belonged to 14th century pirate Klaus Störtebeker. He was the leader of the privateer guild Victual Brothers, who later turned to piracy and roamed European seas. (from Piracy)
Image 33A French Ship and Barbary Pirates by Aert Anthonisz, c. 1615 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 34Baluarte Watchtower, La Union. A 400-year-old Spanish-era structure built to guard against pirates, later used in World War II as a communication tower for the USAFIP-NL airfield. (from Piracy)
Image 35International Maritime Organization (IMO) conference on capacity-building to counter piracy in the Indian Ocean (from Piracy)
Image 36"Mic the Scallywag" of the Pirates of Emerson Haunted Adventure, Fremont, California (from Piracy)
Image 37Battle of a French ship of the line and two galleys of the Barbary corsairs (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 38Pirate treasure looted by Samuel Bellamy and recovered from the wreck of the Whydah; exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, 2010 (from Piracy)
Image 39The Vitalienbrüder. Piracy became endemic in the Baltic Sea in the Middle Ages because of the Victual Brothers. (from Piracy)
Image 40Map of Vlorë in 1573 by Simon Pinargenti (from Albanian piracy)
Image 41British Royal Navy Commodore gives a presentation on piracy at the MAST 2008 conference (from Piracy)
Image 42Henry Morgan who sacked and burned the city of Panama in 1671 – the second most important city in the Spanish New World at the time; engraving from 1681 Spanish edition of Alexandre Exquemelin's The Buccaneers of America (from Piracy)
Image 43French bombardment of Algiers by Admiral Dupperé, 13 June 1830 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 44The crew of the merchant vessel Faina stand on the deck after a U.S. Navy request to check on their health and welfare. The Belize-flagged cargo ship owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping, Ukraine, was seized by pirates 25 September 2008 and forced to proceed to anchorage off the Somali coast. The ship was carrying a cargo of Ukrainian T-72 tanks and related military equipment. (from Piracy off the coast of Somalia)
Image 45Coat of arms of the town of Almuñécar, granted by King Charles V in 1526, showing the turbaned heads of three Barbary pirates floating in the sea (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 46An LRAD sound cannon mounted on RMS Queen Mary 2 (from Piracy)
Image 47Dan Seavey was a pirate on the Great Lakes in the early 20th century. (from Piracy)
Image 48Time series of maritime traffic crossing the Indian Ocean showing the effect of piracy and its progressive decline in re-routing ships. Each sub-plot shows 6-month colour-coded trips, red southbound and green northbound, using Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) historical data. Operational authorities requested an increase of LRIT reporting frequency from ships in 2009 and 2010 in order to better track them remotely in the High Risk Area. The increase of tracking points can be erroneously perceived as an apparently higher volume of traffic with respect to other periods. (from Piracy off the coast of Somalia)
Image 49Map of Ulcinj in 1573 by Simon Pinargenti (from Albanian piracy)
Image 50Puerto del Príncipe being sacked in 1668 by Henry Morgan (from Piracy)
Image 51Lieve Pietersz Verschuier, Dutch ships bomb Tripoli in a punitive expedition against the Barbary pirates, c. 1670 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 52Spanish warships bombarding the Moro Pirates of the southern Philippines in 1848 (from Piracy)
Image 53Jacques de Sores looting and burning Havana in 1555 (from Piracy)
Image 54A 19th-century illustration of an Iranun pirate (from Piracy)
Image 55U.S. naval officer Stephen Decatur boarding a Tripolitan gunboat during the First Barbary War, 1804 (from Piracy)
Image 56Double-barrelled lantaka cannons, kalasag shields, armor, and various swords (including kalis, panabas, and kampilan) used by Moro pirates in the Philippines (c. 1900) (from Piracy)
Image 57Kent battling Confiance, a privateer vessel commanded by French corsair Robert Surcouf in October 1800, as depicted in a painting by Garneray (from Piracy)
Image 58A fleet of Vikings, painted mid-12th century (from Piracy)
Image 59Capture of the Pirate Blackbeard, 1718 depicting the battle between Blackbeard and Robert Maynard in Ocracoke Bay; romanticized depiction by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris from 1920 (from Piracy)
Image 60An action between an English ship and vessels of the Barbary Corsairs (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 61Bartholomew Roberts was the pirate with the most captures during the Golden Age of Piracy. He is now known for hanging the governor of Martinique from the yardarm of his ship. (from Piracy)
Image 62A collage of Somali pirates armed with AKM assault rifles, RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and semi-automatic pistols in 2008 (from Piracy)
Image 63Map of Tripoli in 1561 (from Albanian piracy)
Image 64Painting from 1772 depicting British and French sailors at battle with Dulcignottes (Ulcinj pirates). These pirates were defeated on 5 September 1772. (from Albanian piracy)
Image 65Anti piracy operations by Indian Navy's INS Tabar, in the Gulf of Aden on 18 November 2008 (from Piracy off the coast of Somalia)
Image 66Captain William Bainbridge paying tribute to the Dey of Algiers, c. 1800 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 67Map of Dalmatia in 1715 by Guillaume Delisle (from Albanian piracy)
Image 68Currimao Watchtower, Ilocos Norte. 'Currimao' comes from the Iloco term cumaws (pirates) and the Spanish word correr (to run), reflecting the warnings given by watchmen during pirate attacks. (from Piracy)
Image 69Pirates attacking a French ship (from Albanian piracy)
Image 70Map showing the extent of Somali pirate attacks on shipping vessels between 2005 and 2010 (from Piracy)
Image 71Map of Durrës in 1573 by Simon Pinargenti (from Albanian piracy)
Image 72A merchant seaman aboard a fleet oil tanker practices target shooting with a Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun as part of training to repel pirates in the Strait of Malacca, 1984 (from Piracy)
Image 73The Prisoner by Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ after Jean-Léon Gérôme, c.1871 (from Albanian piracy)
Image 74Amaro Pargo was one of the most famous corsairs of the Golden Age of Piracy (from Piracy)
Image 75Four Chinese pirates who were hanged in Hong Kong in 1863 (from Piracy)
Image 76Castle of Ulcinj in the 1890s (from Albanian piracy)
Image 77Slave market in Algiers, Ottoman Algeria, 1684 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 78Mural representing the attack of Charles Windon to San Sebastián de La Gomera (1743) (from Piracy)
Image 79Barbary pirates were involved in the Barbary slave trade in North Africa (from Piracy)
Image 80Conquest of Tunis by Charles V and liberation of Christian galley slaves in 1535 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 81A contemporary flyer depicting the public execution of 16th-century pirate Klein Henszlein and his crew in 1573 (from Piracy)
Image 82The cemetery of past pirates at Île Ste-Marie (St. Mary's Island) (from Piracy)
Image 83Map of Shkodër with the Buna river in 1571 by Giovanni Francesco Camocio (from Albanian piracy)
Image 84Sixteenth century Japanese pirate raids (from Piracy)
Image 85A pirate skiff in Baltiysk, Russia — captured by the Russian Navy (from Piracy off the coast of Somalia)
Image 86A private guard escort on a merchant ship providing security services against piracy in the Indian Ocean (from Piracy)
Image 87Chinese pirate flag with the bagua and taijitu, captured by George Henry Preble. Circa 1871 (from Piracy)
Image 88Henry Every is shown selling his loot in this engraving by Howard Pyle. Every's capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai in 1695 stands as one of the most profitable pirate raids ever perpetrated. (from Piracy)
Image 89Barbaria by Jan Janssonius, shows the coast of North Africa, an area known in the 17th century as Barbaria, c. 1650 (from Barbary corsairs)
Image 90Incidents of pipeline vandalism by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, 2002–2011 (from Piracy)