The Inauspicious Start of the Adventure Galley’s Journey
In 1695, William Kidd’s mission was expanded when he was presented with a letter of marque signed by King William III, that gave him the commission to hunt pirates in the Indian Ocean. The voyage started inauspiciously. As he sailed out of London in a newly equipped ship, the 34 gun and 150 men crew Adventure Galley, Kidd offended a Royal Navy captain when he failed to salute his warship in the Thames. In retaliation for the perceived disrespect from a mere Colonial, the captain stopped the Adventure Galley and seized half of its crew to press them into the Royal Navy. Kidd was left to cross the Atlantic short-handed. He eventually made it to New York, where he replenished his crew with whichever unemployed seafarers he could find.
Unfortunately for Kidd, most of the new crew turned out to be hardened criminals and former pirates. The ship was struck with illness en route, and by the time he reached the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean, a third of Kidd’s crew had died of cholera. Worse, he was unable to find the pirates he had been sent to hunt down. The enterprise seemed a failure, and the crew grew antsy. So they urged him to attack some vessels that sailed by in order to make the voyage worth their time. When Kidd declined, his men threatened mutiny. Under pressure – and also to recoup his investment – he gave in, and reluctantly began to attack ships not covered by his commission as a privateer.
