 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(August 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Battle of Cape Lopez | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theGolden Age of Piracy | |||||||
.jpg) Illustration of the battle byCharles Dixon | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Great Britain | Pirates | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Chaloner Ogle | Bartholomew Roberts † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 ship of the line | 1 frigate 1 brig | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 3 killed 272 captured 1 frigate captured | ||||||
TheBattle of Cape Lopez was fought in early 1722 during theGolden Age of Piracy.HMSSwallow, a Britishship of the line underCaptainChaloner Ogle, defeated the pirate ship ofBartholomew Roberts off the coast ofGabon,West Africa.
Roberts was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age; he captured well over 400 vessels ranging from smallfishing boats to largefrigates. In April 1721, Roberts, later known as "Black Bart", was sailing the coast ofMartinique when he came across a French frigate of fifty-two guns and captured her. Aboard the vessel was the governor of the French colony who was hanged by Roberts from theyardarm of his ship. This act proved to be his downfall as it was apparently the final straw. In retaliation for Black Bart's repeated attacks on fleets of merchant ships and his killing of the governor, theFrench Navy and theRoyal Navy dispatched several warships to hunt the pirates. Roberts and his men captured the two French warships off theSenegal River's mouth, the sixteen-gunsloop-of-warComte de Toulouse and a ten-gunbrig.Comte de Toulouse was renamed theRanger and the brigLittle Ranger. After taking the two Frenchmen, the pirates sailed southeast for the present dayGabon.
While on the way, off thePepper Coast Roberts sighted and captured theRoyal Africa Company frigateOnslow which he renamed theRoyal Fortune. The frigate mounted over forty guns and the crew consisted of about 250 men, black and white. Black Bart's luck was soon to run out though, as two Royal Navy men-of-war began patrolling the waters of West Africa, at about the same time, Roberts anchored in Cape Lopez forcareening. The Royal Navy vessels on patrol were thefourth-ratesHMSSwallow andHMSWeymouth, both mounting fifty guns or more but only theSwallow underCaptain Chaloner Ogle encountered Black Bart. When Captain Ogle sailed around the cape he sighted four vessels, three of them pirates and one a merchant ship theNeptune belonging to a Captain Hill, which was illegally trading with the brigands. Ogle spotted asandbar and quickly ordered his ship to turn out of the way, at the same time raising a Portuguese flag. By this time the pirates had spotted theSwallow so Roberts allowed CaptainJames Skyrme in theRanger to capture what he thought was a fleeing merchant ship.
Sensing an opportunity, Captain Ogle chose to let the pirate chase him for several hours until they were far away from the cape and land was no longer in sight. Ogle then turned about, raised theWhite Ensign and engaged Captain Skyrme, who still did not realize theSwallow was a Royal Navy frigate. After a relatively short action, the sloop was captured, made aprize, and ten pirates were killed. Ogle then patiently sailed back to Cape Lopez where he arrived five days later on February 10, 1722.
According to legend, at this time Black Bart Roberts was eating breakfast ofsalmagundi with Captain Hill of the captured shipNeptune aboard theRoyal Fortune when one of his crew shouted that theRanger was returning from her chase with the merchant ship. A few moments later they discovered the incoming vessel was not their sloop but theSwallow. One of the pirates, a man named Armstrong who had absconded from theSwallow's sister shipWeymouth at Madeira, recognized the Royal Navy frigate and told Captain Roberts. Without fear Roberts boarded theRoyal Fortune and as he did before all of his battles, he dressed in his finest clothing, a red damask waistcoat and a red feather in his hat, and began organizing his escape. Most of the crew from theLittle Ranger was ordered to join the crew of theRoyal Fortune so as to keep as many pirates as possible aboard theflagship for defense. TheLittle Ranger which was hauled on her side being cleaned at the time, was abandoned. When the pirates left, Captain Hill's crew went aboard theLittle Ranger and looted gold and other valuables, and sailed off forPrince's Island (São Tomé and Príncipe).
Roberts' plan called for him to sail directly for theSwallow in order to quickly pass her and then escape. By doing this theSwallow would have to turn about to engage or chase theRoyal Fortune which would give Roberts valuable time to flee. The plan however had one flaw, by sailing right past the Royal Navy frigate, theRoyal Fortune would be exposed to one ofSwallow's deadly broadsides. Captain Roberts set out for his escape and issued the command forLittle Ranger and the merchantman to leave. The following action ended badly for the pirates. WhenRoyal Fortune was offSwallow's beam, she released a massive broadside which raked the ship. The pirates opened fire and then an additional broadside from theSwallow raked the deck where Black Bart was commanding. The pirates got clear and ran ahead of the wind, leaving theSwallow behind. The action took place during a fierce tropical storm, and just as theRoyal Fortune seemed to have escaped the ship hit the 'eye' of the storm, and were suddenly becalmed for half an hour. This gave the unaffectedSwallow time to catch up, and when they were in range, they fired theirswivels (guns mounted on the bow which firedgrapeshot) at theRoyal Fortune. Three men died, one of them being Bartholomew Roberts. A piece of shot no bigger than a penny, hit him in the throat, severed his spinal column, and he died instantly. He settled down onto a gun, to initial observers that he was taking a rest but when the smoke had cleared away Black Bart was dead and Captain Ogle later allowed his crew to bury him at sea, which they did in all his finery, including a diamond studded six inch cross on a chain which he wore around his neck.
The pirates, determined to avenge their captain, slowed down their vessel and turned around to continue the engagement. According to some accounts the action lasted for around three hours before cannon fire from the ship of the line dismasted the pirate frigate and allowed boarding.Royal Fortune'scolors were struck by force and the remaining pirates were arrested.
Bartholomew Roberts was killed at the very beginning of the battle during the second broadside unleashed by the ship of the line. Several men were killed or wounded on both sides and 272 pirates taken prisoner in all. Many were wounded and died in captivity on their way to the prison ofCape Coast Castle. Fifty-four pirates were hanged for their deeds and thirty-seven were punished less severely. Of the 272 captured pirates, 65 were former African slaves that Roberts had emancipated, and they were sold back into slavery.[1] Seventeen went toMarshalsea prison inLondon and twenty became indentured servants for the Royal African Company. Dozens of pirates escaped punishment as they were forced into a life with Roberts' pirates to begin with. Captain Chaloner Ogle benefitted from the battle significantly, besides beingknighted and becoming anadmiral he took off several ounces of gold dust from theRanger and theRoyal Fortune. After defeating Roberts, Captain Ogle intended to sail back and take theLittle Ranger which was also carrying gold but she and the merchantman escaped and it is said that Captain Hill received most of the remaining gold. With the death of "Black Bart", piracy in theAtlantic Ocean died off and the Golden Age ended by 1730.
