Captain Napin (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1717–1718, first name unknown, last name occasionally Napping) was a pirate active in the Caribbean and off the American east coast. He is best known for sailing alongside

Benjamin Hornigold Captain Benjamin Hornigold (1680–1719) was an English pirate who operated during the tail end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Born in England in the late 17th century, Hornigold began his pirate career in 1713, attacking merchant ships in the Bah ...

History

Little is recorded of Napin's early life. In April 1717 he was sailing alongside Benjamin Hornigold. They plundered several vessels in quick succession off

Puerto Bello Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

until they were chased away by HMS ''Winchelsea'' near

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. Napin parted from Hornigold by the summer of 1717, though he continued to sail with Hornigold sporadically until that October. Nathaniel Brooker of the

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet ...

''Restoration'' reported being attacked in August 1717 by Napin and Thomas Nichols while sailing from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

(Hornigold was not present). The pirates released ''Restoration'' after looting it of everything from provisions and trade goods to kettles and frying pans. Brooker described Napin's

jolly roger Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the later part of the Golden Age of Piracy). The flag most commonly identified as the Jo ...

flag: he "had in his flag a death’s head and an hourglass." Napin and his 12-gun, 100-man

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

were also behind a solo attack on a

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

named ''Adventure'' in September, and a

ship's tender A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship, used to service or support other boats or ships. This is generally done by transporting people or supplies to and from shore or another ship. A second and distinctl ...

off of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

in October. Captain Vincent Pearse of HMS ''Phoenix'' sailed to Nassau in early 1718 to bring news of King George I's general pardon for pirates who surrendered by September. Nichols and Hornigold accepted the pardon; Pearse wrote that "there is an other Sloop out Commanded by Capt. Napping they expect in Dayly" but Napin never arrived to accept the pardon. There are no records of Napin's activities after he was reported as sailing between

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and the African coast in March 1718.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Napin, Captain 18th-century pirates Caribbean pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing

History

See also

References