Quedagh Merchant
01/30/1698 AD captured
Captain Kidd takes an Indian ship that unfortunately has an English captain, and is denounced as a pirate when this news reaches England. He would later rename this vessel the Adventure Prize.
Captain Kidd spotted the Quedagh Merchant about 25 leagues from Cochin, and raced to catch up with it.
After approximately four hours, Adventure Galley caught up with Quedagh and hoisted a French flag for its colors, and Kidd commanded the other captain to board his ship.
A Frenchman came over by boat, and when he stepped aboard Adventure Galley, Kidd gave the command to hoist an English flag. The Frenchman, upon seeing the flag change, reportedly replied, "Here is a good Prize."
When Kidd and his crew began inventorying the loot, the Frenchman mentioned that he was not actually the captain of the vessel, but that Mr. Wright was indeed the man in that role.
Kidd located Captain Wright below deck, and he denied being the captain, although the French pass identified him as the captain with the inscription "pilot Rette". Wright also informed him that an agent for the English East India Company had brokered the voyage. Kidd, acknowledging that looting this ship could raise concerns back in England, decided that the crew vote on whether to take the ship and its cargo, or sell it back to the Armenians.
A man named Cogi Baba offered to buy the ship and its cargo back for about 1/20 of the value of the cargo, but the men of Kidd's crew rejected the offer.
Kidd did not fight the vote, knowing that this was a legal capture: Because, despite all else, the voyage had been promised safe passage by the French, an English enemy.
Subjects Who or What captured?
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William Kidd (Captain Kidd) Seventeenth century Scot...
Events in 1698 MORE
