Flying Gang

A Death's Head flag of the sort used by the Flying Gang[1]

The Flying Gang was an 18th-century group of pirates who established themselves in Nassau, New Providence in the Bahamas after the destruction of Port Royal in Jamaica.[2] The gang consisted of the most notorious and cunning pirates of the time, and they terrorized and pillaged the Caribbean until the Royal Navy and infighting brought them to justice. They achieved great fame and wealth by raiding salvagers attempting to recover gold from the sunken Spanish treasure fleet. They established their own codes and governed themselves independent from any of the colonial powers of the time. Nassau was deemed the Republic of Pirates as it attracted many former privateers looking for work to its shores. The Governor of Bermuda stated that there were over 1,000 pirates in Nassau at that time and that they outnumbered the mere hundred inhabitants in the town.[3]

  1. ^ Woodard, Colin (2008-05-12). The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-547-41575-8.
  2. ^ Rediker, Marcus (5 April 2011). Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age. Beacon Press. p. 171. ISBN 9780807095386.
  3. ^ "Infamous Pirates | Flying Gang". www.goldenageofpiracy.org. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2020.