[WARlrus]

Now that I’m about to embark on the naval aspect of the war, I’m confronted with the need to know how fast a sailing ship would travel from one port to another. Naturally it would depend on the overall design, size, and tonnage of the ship, plus weather and wind speeds. And you have to keep in mind things like the depth of the water. Can you get a vessel of a certain size through that channel or will it run aground? To calculate that you need a good chart of the sea roads, and the times of the incoming and outgoing tides on that particular day. All of which are readily available . . . not.

[sunny256]

1st Case 3,280 miles / 50 days = 66 miles per 24 hours 2.73 miles / hour here

[fluffy]

4th Case 210 miles / 2 days = 105 miles per 24 hours 4.38 miles / hour [links]

[SelfHelp]

Although all the huge cargo and tanker vessels are basically too high to climb, when fully loaded, these vessels move quite low with a fairly high draught. This makes it even easier for the pirates to board the ships. Moreover, most of the piracy attacks mainly take place near to the shoreline using small speed boats. However, some of the recent piracy attacks have even taken place at a distance of three to four hundred nautical miles from the shore. In such cases, pirates use a bigger mother ship and anchor is near the sea route. When the targeted ship arrives, they use small power boats to attack the ship. more

[Edogaa]

Some of these ships are so huge that it is seems difficult to climb them even through their gangway, forget using any other method. So how do these pirates do this daunting task? Aren’t the pirates visible to the ship’s crew? Isn’t it nearly impossible to climb these huge ships from their sides? The following article will answer these questions and many more… questions which have always made everyone wonder about activities related to piracy.

[jarlethaanthonyt]

Moreover, the ships don’t have any kind of weapons on board, nor does the crew have any members trained for defending themselves. Also, as pirates generally board at night, when more than half of the crew is taking rest, it is really difficult to keep a close watch on all the areas of the ship by the small number of crew members who are on duty. This makes a merchant ship extremely vulnerable to piracy activities, especially in Somali waters.

[Necrathex]

Present day pirates are using the best of modern technology to assist them in their piracy attacks. Equipped with the most modern and automatic weapons such as AK-47 rifles and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), the pirates mercilessly and aimlessly fire on the targeted ship. here

[hauns]

The speed of ships in the 1700s depended on the wind, but averaged about 4 to 5 knots, with the ability to reach 20 knots. In its life of 8 to 10 years, a ship would typically embark on four or five voyages. more

[meldavies88]

Guangzhou, which was known as Canton in the 1700s, served as a popular port for voyagers traveling from Denmark. Leaving Copenhagen and traversing through the North Sea into the Atlantic could take as much as 3 months, depending on the strength of the monsoon winds. While the trip out to Canton would take nearly 8 months, the return trip back to Denmark could take as little as 6 months. Even so, shipwrecks were rare. During the 40 years in the 18th century that ships embarked on this journey, only six ships were wrecked, with two-thirds occurring during the North Sea leg of the journey.

[Bitcoinz]

[telyni]

here

[AgentME]

These pirates also weren't usually after gold, silver and jewels. Their plunder consisted mainly of tobacco, rum, sugar and ordinary supplies. The concept of treasure maps and piles of wealth comes primarily from "Treasure Island" and other romanticized pirate tales. One notable exception is the pirate Sam Bellamy, whose ship Whydah sank off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in a storm in 1717. The Whydah's plunder included chests of gold and coins. National Geographic has more information about the Whydah and its treasure.

[gena]

Golden Age pirates also have some notable differences from modern depictions. They generally used small, fast ships rather than immense galleons. Most used fast, maneuverable ships called sloops. Sloops could carry around 75 men and around 14 small cannons. They had shallow draughts, so they could travel into shallow water to evade or pursue other ships. Pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries also used schooners, which were American versions of sloops, and brigantines, which could hold about twice as many men as sloops.

[adamjkok]

Many people think of pirates as rich, living off the plunder of many ships. While some pirates had more wealth than merchant sailors, long sea voyages made their lives far from easy. The pirate diet often included spoiled meat, bitter water tainted with algae, and hard tack, which was like a very hard cracker that didn't spoil as quickly as ordinary bread. Even so, a ship's store of hard tack was often infested with small bugs called weevils. You can learn about hard tack and how to make your own at the Gettysburg National Military Park site.

[Brre]

In addition, many stories and movies have depicted pirates as charming rogues or aristocrats forced into piracy through unfortunate circumstances. Pirates have been portrayed as romantic heroes, such as "The Princess Bride"'s Dread Pirate Roberts, or noble outlaws, such as "Pirates of the Caribbean"'s Captain Jack Sparrow. But pirates from every area, including the Golden Age, weren't usually noble or aristocratic. Although some followed codes of conduct and elected their captains democratically, they were still thieves and murderers. While some pirate ships were racially integrated, many participated in the slave trade by capturing and plundering slave ships.