This was the pathologic nature of Black Bart he would butcher the innocent and then demand his men pray to God. He had a hatred for the Irish and Spaniards. He was known to torture, The Africans members of his crew were still considered slaves and were not given shares of the booty, and at least 1/3 of his crew were forced, that is made to be pirates. While some sources say he only killed one or two people other accounts are contrary to this opinion. He also devised amusing ways to kill his captives. Yet, we can see from the action above, his piety was confused at best and possibly psychotic.
He never drank alcohol, only tea, did not allow alcohol consumption or gambling onboard his ships (although his crew was completely drunk when he finally met his end). Roberts has been called a pious man in that he had religious services onboard his ships, and never attacked on the Sabbath. Roberts first act as the new captain was to revenge Davis' death by returning to Principe to sack and butcher the town as retribution. Shortly afterward, the up and coming rogue so impressed the pirate crew, that when Davis was killed during the attack on Principe, off the Guinea coast the Crew elected the experienced sailor Captain. As luck would have it, Roberts took a fancy to the pirate life and eventually was made part of the crew. His ship was taken by Howell Davis in June 1719, and Roberts had the pleasure of becoming forced labor on a pirate ship. We pick up his story when he was working as a third mate on the British slave ship, Princess. Roberts Shipīorn John Roberts in southern Wales about 1682. He also raided at least four major ports and several smaller fishing towns along the coasts of North and South America as well as Africa.
Roberts had a pirate career of a little over two years and was known to have captured at least 250 ships in that short time period. This however does not diminish Roberts impact on piracy in the Caribbean. The word successful is very relative and thus almost meaningless without some qualifiers and thus is not up for debate here. However, several Chinese pirates also captured more ships, had longer careers and attained more wealth for example 19th centure female pirate Ching Shih. While these numbers might be an exaggeration, there is no doubt, he was a dangerous and daring pirate when he came into his own.Īs for the claim of most successful pirate, Henry Morgan captured more, but Morgan, rogue that he was, was still technically a privateer. If we are to believe the claims, Bartholomew Roberts (he was never called Black Bart in his time) was perhaps the most successful pirate of all time, with the capture of over 400 ships and over £50 million of booty in a career that spanned a mere 2 years and six months.
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