From the late 1600s to the early 1700s, pirates, privateers and buccaneers ruled the waves around The Bahamas, and the stories of their exploits have been passed through the generations as carefully as the plundered treasure itself.
The shallow offshore waters close to busy shipping lanes and reefs that could prove hazardous to all but the most experienced of ship's captains, afforded wreckers excellent opportunities to lure many a heavily laden merchant ship and Spanish galleon aground. And the numerous islands and islets, with their complex, narrow channels, provided perfect hiding places where the captured vessels could be mercilessly relieved of their precious cargoes.
With its sheltered all-weather harbour, the city of Nassau, originally established as a commercial port around 1670, was particularly favoured and soon became a true 'pirate paradise' for lawless seafaring men who frequently used false 'lighthouses' to lure ships onto the reefs. For almost 40 years, pirates like Blackbeard, Henry Morgan and Calico Jack Rackham raided so many Spanish galleons that, in retaliation, Spanish troops destroyed the town in 1695.
Two years later, settlers rebuilt Nassau, but to little avail as in 1703, to combat continued attacks on their ships by the British, the French and Spanish navies joined forces and wiped out the town for the second time. Looting heavily-laden cargo ships as they passed by the islands was a lucrative business, so it wasn't long before pirates once again re-established Nassau for themselves. Eventually, in 1718, the King of England appointed Woodes Rogers as Royal Governor of the islands to restore order. Rogers, himself a former privateer, offered amnesty to all those who surrendered - those who didn't would be hanged and their ships sunk. After a brief battle with Rogers' four battleships, 300 pirates surrendered and the rest fled.
