Captain of the Adventure Galley
04/06/1696 AD departed
The vessel was acquired for Kidd by a consortium of investors who backed a scheme to hunt down pirates, recover their booty and redistribute it among the investors.
Her design combined sails and oars, an unusual combination for warships at that time, that incorporated three ship-rigged masts and two banks of oars. This allowed her to make 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) under full sail and 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) under oar. Although rowing was slow it enabled the ship to manoeuvre against the wind, or in calm conditions where other vessels that relied on sails alone could not make any progress.
A number of British warships had been built to similar designs following the lessons learned from the wars against the Barbary pirates of North Africa, whose galleys had proved formidable opponents, and trading companies such as the East India Company also built oared frigates.
Adventure Galley was well-armed with a complement of 32 guns (saker or light cannon). It is not clear whether she was in fact a new vessel or had originally been intended for the navy; she may have been a commercial vessel under refit at Castle's yard before she was acquired by Kidd's consortium.
Castle's yard, where Adventure Galley was built, was one of the largest private shipyards in England, but she does not appear to have been particularly well-built, given the problems that Kidd faced with her seaworthiness. It was not uncommon for shipyards to cut corners and use sub-standard materials, and to pocket the difference in costs as extra profit.
Subjects Who or What departed?
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William Kidd (Captain Kidd) Seventeenth century Scot...
Events in 1696 MORE
