PIRATES OF THE INDIAN OCEAN THOMAS TEW & LONG-LEGS BEN

Henry Avery was born in Plymouth, a town on the south coast of England. The son of a merchant ship captain, he became a sailor at an early age, gaining experience aboard privateers and warships. However, it was the carefree life aboard slave ships that held the greatest allure for him. Perhaps that’s where he got his nickname.
In 1694, he served as chief mate on the 46-gun frigate ‘Charles’. At that time, Spain was at war with France, and the British were allied with Spain. Although the ship was British, it had a Spanish license to capture French pirates. Payments were often delayed due to the complicated Spanish system.
By September, the frigate was anchored in La Coruña harbor in north-west Spain, and the crew were waiting for their pay. They were fed up with the lack of funds and irritated by Captain Gibson, who went ashore every morning to drink his favorite punch in a tavern, returning back in a cheerful drunken stupor. ‘Long-Legs Ben’ saw the crew’s growing discontent as an opportunity for himself and was determined not to miss it. He proposed a far more profitable adventure to the sailors, who agreed to his plan without hesitation.

The captain did not come out of his cabin that morning for a long time; his head must have been buzzing from the night before. Alarmed by the rocking of the ship and the noise on deck, he rang the bell. Long-Legs Ben entered the cabin and Gibson stared at him with clouded eyes.
‘What’s the matter, mate? What’s going on down there?’
‘Nothing’s wrong,‘ the mate replied calmly.
‘What’s wrong with the frigate? Are we on the move? Or is it the wind up there?‘ the captain asked nervously.
‘Yes, everything’s fine. We’re at sea, the weather’s nice and there’s a nice breeze,’ the mate said, smiling at him.
‘At sea? What on earth? How can that be?’ cried Gibson, losing his temper.
‘Don’t be nervous. I’ll let you in on a secret while you’re getting dressed,’ Avery continued, smiling. “You should know that I am now the captain of this ship and these are my quarters, which you must leave immediately. My mind is made up, and all the brave sailors on board agree with me.’

Captain Gibson froze, his mouth agape and his eyes wide, seemingly in shock. Long-Legs Ben continued:
‘If you object or get nervous, we’ll calm you down. But if you stay calm, maybe I’ll make you my lieutenant one day.”
‘There’s another possibility,’ said Long-Legs Ben, grinning. ‘There’s a dinghy waiting, and you can go to the tavern right now and have your punch. If you tell your story there, you’ll probably get a free drink.’

Gibson finally came out of his shock. He grabbed his clothes and jumped out onto the deck in his underpants, which made the whole crew laugh. The bosun led him to the rope ladder, and a few others who didn’t want to join the adventure jumped into the dinghy with him. The bosun untied the dinghy, and with that, the bloodless mutiny came to an end.

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Long-Legs Ben was unanimously elected captain. A mature man and an experienced sailor, he was 40 years old. But why did this shipowner and respected citizen with a secure future become a pirate? Some contemporaries believed it was due to his wife’s infidelity. However, sailors’ wives usually claim that they do not provoke their husbands to behave recklessly. In Henry Avery’s case, his wife played no other role than the one she was born to. Besides, in every port where his ship stopped, there were plenty of women eager to take advantage of the free alcohol. Avery was not one to go crazy over a runaway skirt. He soon proved this with his common sense and composure.

They named their frigate the ‘Fancy’ and hoisted a pirate flag on the mast. The new captain was clever, cunning and shrewd. At the first opportunity, he sent a letter to the English newspapers declaring his loyalty to the King and the English people.
However, within the first few days of making this pledge, he captured and robbed several English and Dutch merchant ships off the Cape Verde Islands. Many of these vessels’ sailors then joined the pirates. ‘Long-Legs Ben’ understood the aspirations and desires of the average sailor, and his reasoning was irrefutable.

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They set sail for Africa, before continuing on into the Indian Ocean. After passing the Cape of Good Hope, they stopped off at the Comoros Islands to replenish their water and supplies. In these waters, they encountered numerous pirate ships flying different flags. Long-Legs Ben captured one French ship, followed by two more. He then sailed on to the Strait of Bab al-Mandab with his fleet. En route, they encountered Thomas Tew’s ship, and the two captains agreed to join forces.
Many Indian and Arab merchant ships sailed through the straits. The pirates circled the area for weeks, searching for valuable plunder. Finally, they spotted a caravan of two dozen ships and attacked. Avery was successful: he captured two traders and robbed them. However, Thomas Tew was not so fortunate. He fought the Indian warship ‘Fateh Mohammad’ and was killed, while the Indians captured his crew.

After the battle, the Indian ship moved slowly while its crew repaired and replaced damaged spars and sails. As darkness fell, Long-Legs Ben’s ship approached. The pirates waited until many of the pursuing ship’s crew had taken care of the sails and rushed aboard. They sprang to the deck and chopped everyone they saw with their sabres. Stunned by the pirates’ sudden attack, the captain surrendered without a fight. Long-legged Ben freed the captive sailors, who then chopped the Indians to pieces. This was their way of avenging the death of Thomas Tew. The booty totaled fifty thousand English pounds ($10 million at today’s exchange rate). But the grand prize lurked in the night.

Long-Legs Ben learned from the captured Hindu captain that he was escorting the largest ship in the Mughal Empire, the ‘Ganges-e-Sawaii’, which belonged to the emperor. The ship was returning to India with many pilgrims from Mecca, including high-ranking officials and their wives, as well as young women. The ‘Ganges-e-Sawaii’ was loaded with treasure and armed with 62 cannons, as well as carrying over 500 soldiers.
By contrast, the pirates only had 46 cannons and 150 sabres. But they had courage, and that’s worth a whole fleet! The pirates decided to attack.

In the darkness of night, they caught up with the ‘Ganges-e-Savaii’. The first volley of cannonballs hit the mainmast of the Indian ship and it collapsed, causing panic on board. After two hours of saber-rattling and skirmishing, the looting and orgies began. The pirates stripped the women of their jewellery and raped them. Some captives threw themselves overboard or killed themselves with daggers to escape dishonour.
Having finished their bloody business, the pirates sailed to the island of Réunion, east of Madagascar. There, they divided their booty. The treasure was worth £350,000 (the equivalent of $80 million today). Each pirate received an unimaginable sum: £1,000 — the equivalent of a sailor’s salary for 80 years’ service. They also received jewellery. This wealth was enough to allow them to live in idle luxury for the rest of their lives.

Long-Legs Ben realised that his bloody robbery had drawn him into the world of politics, making an international scandal inevitable. He also realised that he had provoked a religious conflict, meaning that all the monarchs would be after him. Concluding that he would be caught sooner or later, he decided to disappear forever.
In India, news of the pirates’ attack on the Great Mogul’s ships caused outrage. When the ‘Ganges-e-Sawaii’ arrived in Surat, survivors recounted the pirates’ atrocities, which included torture, murder, and rape. In response, an angry Muslim mob laid siege to the English mission. Only the intervention of troops saved the English from physical reprisals. However, all 65 English East India Company employees were imprisoned and chained up.

Long-Legs Ben escaped from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic and then on to the West Indies.
In April 1696, his frigate, the ‘Fancy’, carrying 113 sailors, arrived in Nassau in the Bahamas — a haven for pirates, in need of provisions. However, the governor was already aware of Avery’s exploits and demanded a large sum of money from him in exchange for assistance. Each sailor was charged a fee for every day that the ship remained in the harbour. Ultimately, the governor demanded the ship itself, and the pirates handed it over, complete with its cargo. The pirates then scattered.

Avery changed his own name, bought the schooner ‘Mayflower’, and set sail for Boston with two dozen accomplices. The rest were scattered throughout New England, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. While in Boston, Avery aroused the suspicion of the authorities and was forced to flee to Ireland. However, he was already wanted there, too, and the King of England had offered a reward of £500 for his capture — a substantial sum in those days. For comparison, a manor house with horses could be purchased for £200. The owners of the East India Company promised the same amount for the capture of the pirate. The Mogul Emperor offered the same reward. Some of Avery’s associates were captured and hanged in England. Avery himself disappeared without a trace.

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EPILOGUE.
Thomas Tew amassed a fortune of $111 million (£85 million at current exchange rates) in just three years, making him the third-richest pirate in American history. There is a family history associated with his fortune.
In 1945, Edward Snow, author of ‘Pirates of the Atlantic Coast’, was contacted by a relative of Tew’s. She asked him to help her find the chest in which the captain kept his treasure. This chest had supposedly been seen by another relative living on Cape Cod in 1920. Tew’s grandson had sold the empty chest to a collector as a family heirloom. Snow undertook a search and was successful in locating the chest, which he purchased for a considerable sum. However, the woman who had initially requested the chest had passed away, and her heirs were uninterested in the antique box that had once held their ancestor’s treasure.
The writer found himself in possession of an unclaimed antique. Cheerful Newport residents have opened a museum in memory of the pirate Thomas Tew. One of the Caribbean rums is named after the pirate. The town is very proud of this fact.

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