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 A contemporary image of the Fancy (shown in background) attacking Every's prey | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 (Attributed) | |
| Name | Fancy |
| Renamed |
|
| Reclassified | May have ceased to be a pirate ship in 1695 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Man-of-war |
| Complement | 150 |
| Armament | 46 guns |
Fancy was a 46-gun frigate commanded by pirate Henry Every between May 1694 to late 1695.
Fancy was initially a 46-gun privateer named Charles II – after Charles II of Spain – in Spanish service, commanded by a Captain Gibson, and was anchored at A Coruña, Spain. On 7 May 1694, Henry Every and a few other conspirators organised and carried out a successful mutiny and, setting Captain Gibson ashore, left A Coruña for the Cape of Good Hope. At this time, Charles II was renamed Fancy.
Upon arriving at the Cape, Every sailed to the island of Johanna (Anjouan) in the Comoros Islands, where he had Fancy careened, removing barnacles and weed from the section of the hull that was permanently below water, increasing her speed. He also had Fancy razeed, intentionally removing parts of the ship's superstructure in order to increase her speed. Following this work, Fancy became one of the fastest ships active in the Indian Ocean, and Every used this speed to attack and take a French pirate ship, looting the vessel and recruiting approximately 40 of the crew to his own ship, leaving him with a total complement of around 150.
Every continued to be active in the Indian Ocean, where he worked alongside other famous pirates of his time, including Thomas Tew. Most notable in his captures was Ganj-i-Sawai , a Mughal ship under the command of Ibrahim Khan during Emperor Aurangzeb's era. Since Ganj-I-Sawai mounted 62 cannons and had four to five hundred musket-armed guards, cannon fire from Fancy was instrumental in Every's victory – the first salvo caused a cannon aboard Ganj-I-Siwai to explode, killing a number of gunners. Every's career ended when the crew returned to Nassau in April 1696, in the Bahamas. He returned to Britain aboard the sloop Sea Flower, arriving in Ireland in June 1696 and promptly disappearing.
Although the fate of Fancy is unknown, it was rumored that Every gave her to the governor of Nassau as a bribe. There is supporting documentary evidence that Fancy ran aground on New Providence and Governor Trott had the guns and everything of value stripped. [1]
Thomas Tew, also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th-century English privateer-turned-pirate. He embarked on two major pirate voyages and met a bloody death on the second, and he pioneered the route which became known as the Pirate Round. Other infamous pirates in his path included Henry Avery and William Kidd.
Stede Bonnet was a Barbadian-born pirate and military officer, known as the Gentleman Pirate because he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. Despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided he should turn to piracy in the spring of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, the Revenge, and travelled with his paid crew along the Eastern Seaboard of what is now the United States, capturing other vessels and burning other Barbadian ships.
John Taylor, born Richard Taylor, was an English pirate active in the Indian Ocean, best known for participating in two of the richest pirate captures of all time.
Edward England was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the Pearl and later the Fancy, for which England exchanged the Pearl in 1720. His flag was the classic Jolly Roger — almost exactly as the one "Black Sam" Bellamy used — with a human skull above two crossed bones on a black background. Like Bellamy, England was known for his kindness and compassion as a leader, unlike many other pirates of the time.
Henry Every, also known as Henry Avery, sometimes erroneously given as Jack Avery or John Avery, was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s. He probably used several aliases throughout his career, including Benjamin Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to his crewmen and associates.
Edward Coates was a colonial American privateer in English service during King William's War and later a pirate operating in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Dirk Chivers was a Dutch pirate active in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
See also 1693 in piracy, other events in 1694, 1695 in piracy, and Timeline of piracy.
The Ganj-i-Sawai was an armed Ghanjah dhow belonging to the Mughals. During Aurangzeb's reign, it was captured on 7 September 1695 by the English pirate Henry Every en route from present-day Mocha, Yemen to Surat, India. It was built on the order of Empress Mariam-uz-Zamani, great grandmother of Aurengzeb, after the capture of her ship named Rahimi.
The capture of the sloop Ranger was a naval battle which occurred on June 10, 1723 near Block Island in the Atlantic Ocean. Two pirate ships under the command of Englishmen Edward Low and Charles Harris attacked HMS Greyhound, a post ship of the British Royal Navy which they mistook for a civilian whaler. The resulting engagement lasted for several hours and ended with Harris' sloop Ranger being captured by Greyhound while Low's schooner Fancy escaped. All surviving crew of Ranger were captured and brought to Newport, Rhode Island, where they were placed on trial, sentenced to death and executed.
The Republic of Pirates was the base and stronghold of a loose confederacy run by privateers-turned-pirates in Nassau on New Providence island in the Bahamas during the Golden Age of Piracy for about twelve years from 1706 until 1718. While it was not a republic in a formal sense, it was governed by an informal pirate code, which dictated that the crews of the Republic would vote on the leadership of their ships and treat other pirate crews with civility. The term comes from Colin Woodard's book of the same name.
Joseph Faro was a pirate from Newport, Rhode Island active during the Golden Age of Piracy, primarily in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for sailing alongside Thomas Tew to join Henry Every’s pirate fleet which captured and looted the fabulously rich Mughal ship Gunsway.
Thomas Wake was a pirate from Newport. Active during the Golden Age of Piracy, he is best known for sailing alongside Thomas Tew to join Henry Every in the Indian Ocean, hunting the Moghul treasure fleet.
John Ireland was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for sailing with Thomas Tew.
Richard Want was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for sailing alongside Thomas Tew and Henry Avery.
William Mayes was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He was best known for taking over William Kidd’s ship Blessed William and sailing with Henry Avery. William Mayes is american, specifically from Rhode Island. Mayes was one of the original founders of Libertalia. A civil war came about and William was poisoned by Henry Avery and Thomas Tew.
Mathurin Desmarestz was a French pirate and buccaneer active in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean.
Thomas Collins was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for leading a pirate settlement and trading post on Madagascar.
On 7 September 1695, English pirate Henry Every captured the 25-ship convoy of Grand Mughal vessels making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, including the treasure-laden Ghanjah dhow Ganj-i-Sawai and its escort, Fateh Muhammed. Joining forces with several pirate vessels, Every found himself in command of a small squadron, and they were able to capture up to £600,000 in precious metals and jewels, equivalent to around £115 million in 2024. This caused considerable damage to England's fragile relations with the Mughals, and a combined bounty of £1,000—an immense sum at the time—was offered by the Privy Council and the East India Company for his capture, leading to the first worldwide manhunt in recorded history.
