Joseph Bannister

For the IRS former special agent, see Joe Banister.

Joseph Bannister was a notorious English pirate who operated in the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy, best known for defeating two Royal Navy warships in battle.

Bannister was a well-respected merchant captain in the mid-late 17th century. He became captain of the The Golden Fleece and was tasked with making transatlantic voyages, delivering goods on the profitable route between London and Jamaica. In June 1684, Bannister ran away with the ship and its thirty to forty guns, picked up a hundred men to serve as his crew, and began his career as a pirate, based in Port Royal, Jamaica.[1][2]

Bannister soon picked up additional crew and robbed a Spanish ship, but the governor of Jamaica (under English rule at the time) ordered the HMS Ruby, a powerful Royal Navy warship, to give Bannister chase. The Ruby was able to capture Bannister and take him to Jamaica where he awaited trial, and expected hanging for his punishment. Bannister faced trial and retrial, but before the retrial could occur, he made a daring midnight escape aboard The Golden Fleece and returned to piracy.[1][3][4]

The British government was unable to find Bannister for months until officials found him careening The Golden Fleece in Samaná Bay. Bannister faced two British frigates, the Falcon and the Drake, with a combined fifty-six cannons between them. Bannister placed two separate batteries of guns on island vantage points and battled the navy for two full days, until the warships ran out of ammunition and were forced to retreat.[4] This unlikely victory earned Bannister a place in pirate legend, despite his name being largely lost over the years.

The crew of the Drake captured Bannister in 1687 on the Mosquito Coast where he was living with natives. He was taken back to Port Royal, Jamaica, where, fearing another escape, the governor of Jamaica had him publicly hanged without trial even before he could get off the boat.[1]

Joseph Bannister's ship The Golden Fleece was found in early 2009 by American shipwreck hunters John Chatterton and John Mattera in the Dominican Republic, at Samaná Bay. The discovery is recounted in Robert Kurson's book Pirate Hunters (2015).[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kurson, Robert. Pirate Hunters. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6336-9.
  2. Calendar of State Papers, America and West Indies. British National Archives.
  3. Buisseret, David (2000-01-01). Port Royal Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 9766400989.
  4. 1 2 Buisseret, David (2009-12-15). Jamaica in 1687. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 9766402361.
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