World's Bloodiest Tennis Court

Today we’ll be streaming our first crack at a historical pirate encounter, a game of Letters of Marque crafted to approximate an encounter that took place at the Bay of Hounds off the northwest coast of Cuba on 4 April, 1716.

A small flotilla of brigantines and sloops under the flag of Henry Jennings came across two pirate sailing canoes led by future pirate luminaries Samuel Bellamy and Paulsgrave Williams.  They were looting a ship that thought Jennings was coming to save them.  They were wrong.  With his far more powerful ships, Jennings simply took pirate and prey alike without a shot fired.

While Jennings was deciding whether to cut Bellamy and Williams in on the plunder or simply kill them, a large French merchantman was discovered.  Some of Jenning’s captains didn’t want to attack, as their privateering commission allowed them to attack only Spanish ships.  Seeing their chance, Bellamy and Williams supported Jenning’s decision to attack, and together they went after the French merchantman Saint Marie.  Meanwhile, a second French ship (either the Mary of Rochelle or Amiable Marie, records seem unclear) was also spotted, and some of Jenning’s ships gave chase to that ship as well.

Characters in this drama will also include a young Charles Vane (a crewman aboard one of Jenning’s ships) and Benjamin Hornigold, a figure who will play prominently in the upcoming “Pirate Republic” of New Providence.

Join us today at 2PM East US (7PM UK time) for a live stream where we see if our pirates can match or exceed Jenning’s plunder that bloody day.

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