Dirk Chivers
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Dirk Chivers (, last name occasionally Shivers) was a Dutch
pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
active in the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
and
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
.


Early career

Dirk Chivers is first recorded as a crew member of the ''Portsmouth Adventure'', , under Captain Joseph Faro (or Farrell) around January 1694. Soon after leaving
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
, Chivers saw action in the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
as Farrell and
Henry Every Henry Every, also known as Henry Avery (20 August 1659Disappeared: June 1696), 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 s ...
successfully captured two ships in June 1695. On its return voyage to Rhode Island, the ''Adventure'' ran aground on
Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...
in the
Comoro Islands The Comoro Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean lying between Madagascar and the African mainland. Three of the islands form the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation, while Mayotte bel ...
. Chivers stayed behind with several others while Farrell and the others continued on with Every.


Chivers in the Red Sea & India

Chivers eventually signed aboard the 18-gun ''Resolution'' after being picked up by Captain Robert Glover near the end of the year. After several months in the Red Sea however, Chivers took part in a mutiny against Glover and had him and his 24 supporters placed onto the recently captured Arab ship ''Rajapura''. Elected captain by the crew after the mutiny, he had the ship renamed the ''Soldado'' which, during the next year, was successful in capturing a number of valuable prizes before joining up with privateer John Hoar. Together they captured, and subsequently ransomed, two
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
ships. However, the ships were burned when the governor of
Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
refused to pay the ransom. one of the captured sailors, a Captain Sawbridge, was said to have had his lips sewn shut with a sail needle in response to his constant complaining. Chivers and Hoar sailed with four captured prizes into the harbour of
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
in November 1696, where they demanded a ransom of £10,000 for their release sending a message to the governor stating ''"We acknowledge no country, having sold our own, and as we are sure to be hanged if taken, we shall have no scruple in murdering and destroying if our demands are not granted in full."'' The governor of Calcutta disregarded their threats and sent out ten ships against the privateers and, as they appeared in the harbor, Chivers and Hoar fled without their prizes (burning two of them) and made their way to Adam Baldridge's settlement at Saint Mary's Island for repairs (dismantling
Thomas Tew Thomas Tew (died September 1695), 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 ...
's old ship ''Amity'' for parts and supplies after capturing it from Hoar's brother-in-law Richard Glover) arriving in the summer of 1697 where the two parted company as Hoar sailed for the Red Sea. Glover was still there and asked them to return to America; Chivers offered to let him aboard if he'd continue piracy of Moorish ships. Glover refused and Chivers left him there, where Glover was killed in a native uprising.


Later career

In April 1698, Chivers captured an English ship, the ''Sedgwick'', and struck a deal with the ''Sedgwick'' captain: He would be allowed to keep his ship if he agreed to supplying the privateers crew with rum. In September, Chivers joined up with Robert Culliford (who had recently left
William Kidd William Kidd (c. 1645 – 23 May 1701), also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish-American privateer. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in N ...
) and
Joseph Wheeler Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler (September 10, 1836 – January 25, 1906) was a military commander and politician of the Confederate States of America. He was a cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil ...
with his quartermaster Nathaniel North. Together Chivers, Culliford, Wheeler, and North captured the ''Great Mohammed'' along with £130,000. Taking command of his new prize, the ship was renamed the ''New Soldado'' (or the ''Soldado II'') and returned to Saint Mary's Island where they stayed at a settlement run by Edward Welch. The following year, however, Chivers was forced to sink the ''New Soldado'' to block the harbor passage of Saint Mary's with the appearance of four British battleships in September 1699. Despite his efforts, he and Culliford eventually accepted a royal pardon (under the 1698 Act of Grace, in spite of its expiration) and arranged passage home on the merchantman ''Vine''. Several members of Chivers' crew returned to America separately, offering Giles Shelley large sums to take them as passengers aboard his ship ''Nassau''.


Further reading

*Pennell, C. R. ''Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader''. New York: NYU Press, 2001. *Rogozinski, Jan. ''Honor Among Thieves: Captain Kidd, Henry Every, and the Pirate Democracy in the Indian Ocean''. Stackpole Books, 2000.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chivers, Dirk Pirates from the Dutch Republic 17th-century pirates Pardoned pirates 17th-century births Year of birth uncertain 1699 deaths 17th-century Dutch criminals