Events

• A small squadron of five sailing ships belonging to the Knights of Malta successfully capture a 46-gun Turkish ship carrying over 300 slaves. This is the first major offensive naval operation undertaken by the fleet since its formation in 1701, and escorting convoys since the beginning of 1705.
• The centuries old privateering base of Dunkirk closes. As a result, the replacement rate of ships drops dramatically.
• John Halsey
  John Halsey
  John Halsey was a colonial American privateer and a later pirate who was active in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans during the early 18th century. Although much of his life and career is unknown, he is recorded in A General History of the Pyrates which states "He was brave in his Person, courteous...
  
  , commanding the Charles, begins raiding shipping in the Indian Ocean
  Indian Ocean
  The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
  
  . He is the first American privateer to visit the Red Sea
  Red Sea
  The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
  
   since the 1690s.
• Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
  Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
  Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1702 (probable)was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of...
  
  , in the midst of the War of the Spanish Succession
  War of the Spanish Succession
  The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
  
  , leads an attack invading the English colony at Nevis
  Nevis
  Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...
  
  . Approximately 1,100 buccaneers were among his forces.
• Local pirates are enlisted by colonial authorities to help defend Charlestown, South Carolina from the Spanish under the command of a French admiral. They are led by Lieutenant Colonel William Rhett
  William Rhett
  Colonel William Rhett moved to the Province of Carolina in 1698. He soon became successful and gained a high rank and social status as a colonial leader. In 1706 it was Rhett who commanded a flotilla that fought off a Franco-Spanish attack on Charles Town...
  
   who sail out to meet the Spanish fleet, four warships and a galley, and chases them from the area. Several days later, Rhett took several pirates with him to capture a large ship from the enemy fleet.
• Mary Read
  Mary Read
  Mary Read was an English pirate. She is chiefly remembered as one of only two women known to have been convicted of piracy during the early 18th century, at the height of the Golden Age of Piracy....
  
  , disguising herself as a man, enlists in the Royal Navy
  Royal Navy
  The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
  
  .
• Between 1,200-1,300 French privateers occupy Martinique
  Martinique
  Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
  
  , one of the last old buccaneering hideouts, which they use to raid English and colonial American shipping.
• May 23 - Captain William Kidd
  William Kidd
  William "Captain" Kidd was a Scottish sailor remembered for his trial and execution for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. Some modern historians deem his piratical reputation unjust, as there is evidence that Kidd acted only as a privateer...
  
   is publicly hanged at London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  's infamous Execution Dock
  Execution Dock
  Execution Dock was used for more than 400 years in London to execute pirates, smugglers and mutineers that had been sentenced to death by Admiralty courts. The "dock", which consisted of a scaffold for hanging, was located near the shoreline of the River Thames at Wapping...
  
  after being tried and convicted of murder and piracy.
• October - New Providence
  New Providence
  New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It also houses the national capital city, Nassau.The island was originally under Spanish control following Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, but the Spanish government showed...
  
  , a longtime pirate haven during the Buccaneering era
  Piracy in the Caribbean
  ] The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 16th century and died out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began combating pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1690s until the 1720s...
  
  , is abandoned after a Spanish raid destroys the church-fortress scattering Governor Nicholas Trott
  Nicholas Trott
  Nicholas Trott was an 18th century British judge, legal scholar and writer. He had a lengthy legal and political career in Charleston, South Carolina and served as the colonial chief justice from 1703 until 1719...
  
  small settlement. This attack, along with a previous joint French-Spanish raid in 1703, effectively ends the colony as a base for English privateers.