On his return to London in 1682, Sharpe found trouble waiting. (See also: Rare Spanish Shipwreck from 17th Century Found Near Panama.) Because the overland route goes from north to south, Balboa called it the South Sea. Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to reach the Pacific via the New World, had crossed the narrow neck of land separating the Atlantic and Pacific at Panama in 1513, much as Sharpe and company had done.
Sharpe described it in his journal as “a Spanish manuscript of prodigious value.” One of his men wrote that it was “a great Book full of Sea Charts and Maps, containing a very accurate and exact description of all the Ports, Soundings, Creeks, Rivers, Capes and Coasts belonging to the South Sea, and all the Navigations usually performed by the Spaniards in that Ocean.”īy “South Sea,” he meant the Pacific Ocean. They did not, however, mistake the value of another item they found on the Rosario. (See also: The Real Pirates of the Caribbean.) To their great regret, they later discovered it had actually been unrefined silver-a fortune that would have been “the richest Booty we had gotten in the whole Voyage,” one crew member wrote. The pirates also abandoned 700 slabs of a dull gray metal they believed to be tin. They transferred this prize to the Trinity before cutting down the Rosario’s mast and setting her adrift with her crew of 40 still onboard. Onboard, they found hundreds of jars of wine and brandy, some fruit, and a small amount of money. The pirates gave chase, killed the Spanish captain in a volley of gunfire, and took the ship, the Rosario. Early on the morning of July 29, 1681, one of Sharpe’s men spotted the sails of a Spanish ship.
The daring theft occurred off the coast of Ecuador. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, sailors reported seeing the ghost ship roaming the seas around the cape.One of the most valuable treasures they seized was not gold or silver, but an atlas of Spanish sailing charts From that moment forth they were forced to roam the mighty seas for all eternity as a ghost ship. This foolish act brought a terrible curse down upon the captain, his crew and his ship. What happened next became 17th-century nautical folklore.Īccording to myth, van der Decken swore an oath to the Devil that he would round the Cape even if it took him until Doomsday (the day that the world will come to an end). The crew begged their captain not to sail into the storm. Legend has it that, as van der Decken and his crew attempted to round the Cape, a storm began. The story behind the Flying Dutchman begins in 1641, when Hendrik van der Decken and his crew were returning to Holland from the Far East when they, like all trade ships, had to risk the dangerous passage around The Cape of Good Hope. This ghost ship featured in the movies was inspired by the legend of the real ship of the same name.
So ready yer sea legs, because here’s our rundown of what they got right, and where they took a few liberties.
The film was a runaway success and spawned a multi-billion dollar franchise.įive films later, with a sixth in development, and Pirates of the Caribbean has become probably the most famous depiction of pirates in popular culture. The genre was all but dead when Disney adapted one of their theme park rides into a movie, breathing new life into it. So why is the jolly swashbuckler character still pervasive in popular imagination? Well, the widespread romanticising of pirates can be traced back to the popularity of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, which spawned a genre of pirate novels, which were later made into pirate movies, which in turn gave rise to comic books and Halloween costumes. Pirates were (and still are) violent, desperate thieves who terrorised the high seas. Let’s be real, they’re family films, and the real-life antics of pirates is far, far from PG certificate family fare.
And anyone looking to the movies for historical accuracy will be sorely disappointed.įilms often take creative license to deviate from historical fact, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are no exception. What we think we know about these sea dogs comes mostly from literature and Hollywood - the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, most recently. We all know that pirates were loveable rogues with pet parrots, a thirst for adventure, and a penchant for cheeky colloquialisms like “Ahoy, me hearties,” right? Well, not quite.