On the 13th of April, 1717, pirate Captain Benjamin Hornigold and Captain Napin/Napping found themselves at a standstill with a Dutch vessel off the southern coast of Cuba, after having hit other ships along the Jamaican coast.
Napin had been sailing with Hornigold, plundering vessels in quick succession off Puerto Bello and Jamaica in early April, eventually hitting Captain James’ sloop in Bluefields Bay. Some of the captives told the pirates that there was a rich Dutch ship trading on the coast of Cuba to the north. Three days later, they captured the sloop Revenge in the bay as well, a surviving victim of which would go on to describe Captain Napin’s flag as “a death’s head and an hourglass.” And from the Revenge, they would capture a chest of gold belonging to the Asiento Company (money meant for the purchase of slaves).
Hornigold and Napin then headed for the southern coast of Cuba and found the Dutch ship sitting at anchor. On the 12th, they attempted to attack the twenty-four gun ship, but were repelled by their large crew. This saw Hornigold and Napin at a standstill for the remainder of the 12th, and all of April 13th.
(pictured is Bluefields Bay Jamaica, gold from 1715, and a depiction of Captain Napin’s jolly roger based on the eyewitness account)
