William Kidd Traditional Cache
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Fourth in a series of Pirate Themed Caches.
One of the most well known Pirates of all times was Captain Kidd,
who had originally been employed to rid the seas of pirates.
Kidd was born around 1645 (the exact date is unknown). He found
employment as an English Privateer who found such success in New
York and the West Indies that he was called back to serve England.
The King’s officers asked Kidd to captain a new powerful ship: the
Adventure Galley. The Adventure Galley was equipped with 34 cannons
and a crew of 80. Its mission was to capture all French ships, and
the pirates of Madagascar. Kidd accepted the proposition.
Kidd thought his ship could use a better crew so he recruited a
gang of cutthroats in New York and sailed for Madagascar. Once
there, a good portion of his new crew left Kidd’s ship in order to
join the pirates. The remaining portion of pirates on Kidd’s crew,
threatened him with mutiny, unless Kidd would attack any and all
ships. Kidd refused. Mutiny was close at hand, and a fight between
him and the ship gunner erupted. Kidd killed the man, and the crew
did not pursue the revolt further; however, after that incident,
Kidd was a changed man. Plundering ships of all kinds along India’s
Malabar coast: Kidd had become a pirate. The holds of the Adventure
Galley were already full when Kidd decided to plunder the Quedagh
Merchant.
The Quedagh Merchant was a huge treasure ship of 400 tons
(the Adventure galley weighed only 284 tons). As the pirates
approached the merchant, the captain of the vessel gave the sign of
surrender; however, the captain of the merchant was secretly
preparing for battle. Sails were trimmed, sand was poured for
better footing, ammunition was readied, and buckets were filled for
fire fighting. As the pirates neared, the merchant vessel fired-
but due to a sudden ocean swell, the shot missed its mark. The
pirates immediately threw their grappling hooks, bringing the two
ships together. The pirates rapidly boarded the ship, and soon
Captain Kidd was in the possession of one of the greatest pirate
treasures ever. With this final accomplishment under his belt: he
ordered his crew to set sail for New York.
Kidd thought he could fool the New Yorkers into believing that all
his plunder had been taken only from French and pirate vessels.
Unfortunately for him, he was very mistaken: a great deal of the
booty belonged to the powerful British East India Company. Kidd was
clapped into chains and shipped to England were he was sentenced to
death. Kidd experienced a terrible death: the hangman’s rope broke
twice, the third time it held. Once Kidd was dead: his body was
dipped in tar and hung by chains along the Thames River. Kidd’s
body served as a warning to all would-be pirates for years to come.
Captain Kidd experienced a short-lived pirating career: but in it
he managed to have a great many people killed, some of which he
himself murdered in cold blood.
A Moun10Bike pin for first to find
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
juvpu bar gb pubbfr?