Dirk Chivers
Dirk Chivers (fl. 1694–1699, last name occasionally Shivers) was a Dutch pirate active in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.[1]
Early career
Dirk Chivers is first recorded as a crew member of the Portsmouth Adventure, a privateering ship[citation needed], under Captain Joseph Faro (or Farrell) around January 1694. Soon after leaving Rhode Island, Chivers saw action in the Red Sea as Farrell and Henry Every successfully captured two ships in June 1695. On its return voyage to Rhode Island, the Adventure ran aground on Mayotte in the Comoro Islands. Chivers stayed behind with several others while Farrell and the others continued on with Every.[1]
Chivers in the Red Sea & India
Chivers eventually signed aboard the 18-gun Resolution after being picked up by Captain Robert Glover near the end of the year.[2][3] After several months in the Red Sea however, Chivers took part in a mutiny against Glover and had him and his 24 supporters placed onto the recently captured Arab ship Rajapura. Elected captain by the crew after the mutiny, he had the ship renamed the Soldado which, during the next year, was successful in capturing a number of valuable prizes before joining up with privateer John Hoar.[citation needed]
Together they captured, and subsequently ransomed, two
Chivers and Hoar sailed with four captured prizes into the harbour of
The governor of Calcutta disregarded their threats and sent out ten ships against the privateers and, as they appeared in the harbor, Chivers and Hoar fled without their prizes (burning two of them)
Later career
In April 1698, Chivers captured an English ship, the Sedgwick, and struck a deal with the Sedgwick's captain: He would be allowed to keep his ship if he agreed to supplying the privateers crew with rum.[citation needed]
In September, Chivers joined up with
The following year, however, Chivers was forced to sink the New Soldado to block the harbor passage of Saint Mary's with the appearance of four British battleships in September 1699. Despite his efforts, he and Culliford eventually accepted a royal pardon (under the
Further reading
- Pennell, C. R. Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader. New York: NYU Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8147-6678-1
- Rogozinski, Jan. Honor Among Thieves: Captain Kidd, Henry Every, and the Pirate Democracy in the Indian Ocean. Stackpole Books, 2000. ISBN 0-8117-1529-9
References
- ^ ISBN 1-85326-384-2.
- ISBN 978-1626192508. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ISBN 9782760617414. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ a b Jameson, John Franklin (1923). Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period by J. Franklin Jameson. New York: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. pp. 175–177. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
- ^ Headlam, Cecil (1908). Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 17, 1699 and Addenda 1621-1698 (Vol.17 ed.). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 283–291. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- ^ Grey, Charles (1933). Pirates of the Eastern Seas. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. p. 174.