William Death
Encyclopedia
Captain William Death was an 18th century privateer
from Middlesex
, England
who died in battle December 1756, in the first year of the Seven Years War.
Captain Death was in command of the Terrible, a ship equipped with twenty-six carriage guns, and manned with 200 sailors. On 23 December 1756, the Terrible engaged the Alexandre le Grande, a large French ship sailing from Saint-Domingue
. The Alexandre le Grande was captured, but 4th Lieutenant John Death, Captain Death's brother, died in battle, and 16 other men were lost. Captain Death assigned 40 men to secure the French ship, and they made for Plymouth
, England.
As the ships entered the English Channel
on 27 December, they met the French Vengeance
, a privateer from Saint-Malo
, with 36 large cannon and 360 men. The Vengeance sailed towards the Terrible under an English ensign, but hoisted the French colours when she came near, sailing between the faster Terrible and the slower Alexandre le Grande. The French retook the Alexandre and doubled up on the Terrible, which lost her main-mast in first broadside. When the battle ended, the French commander, his second in command, and 2/3 of his company were lost. The French boarded the Terrible and found only 26 men alive, 16 of whom were severely wounded. John Withy, the 3rd Lieutenant of the Terrible and a survivor of the battle, claimed that Captain Death initially survived the battle, but was shot after he had struck the colours. His body was tossed into the sea.
The badly damaged Terrible was towed to Saint-Malo. When word of the battle reached England, funds were raised for William Death's widow, as well as the survivors. Captain Death's battles against the French were cited as examples of English courage against superior odds.
A young Thomas Paine
had intended to join Captain Death's crew, but was dissuaded by his father. In his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense
, Paine cited Captain Death's battles in his argument that the American colonies should raise a naval fleet. An English folk ballad titled "Captain Death" was printed as early as 1783, and laments the loss of the "brave Captain Death."
It is said that the Terrible was equipped at Execution Dock
, commanded by Captain Death, Lieutenant Devil, and had a surgeon named Ghost.
It was all-in-all, in a word, Terrible.
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
from Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
who died in battle December 1756, in the first year of the Seven Years War.
Captain Death was in command of the Terrible, a ship equipped with twenty-six carriage guns, and manned with 200 sailors. On 23 December 1756, the Terrible engaged the Alexandre le Grande, a large French ship sailing from Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
. The Alexandre le Grande was captured, but 4th Lieutenant John Death, Captain Death's brother, died in battle, and 16 other men were lost. Captain Death assigned 40 men to secure the French ship, and they made for Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, England.
As the ships entered the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
on 27 December, they met the French Vengeance
HMS Vengeance (1758)
HMS Vengeance was a 28-gun sixth rate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been a French privateer under the same name until her capture in 1758 during the Seven Years' War.-French career and capture:...
, a privateer from Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel. It is a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine.-Demographics:The population can increase to up to 200,000 in the summer tourist season...
, with 36 large cannon and 360 men. The Vengeance sailed towards the Terrible under an English ensign, but hoisted the French colours when she came near, sailing between the faster Terrible and the slower Alexandre le Grande. The French retook the Alexandre and doubled up on the Terrible, which lost her main-mast in first broadside. When the battle ended, the French commander, his second in command, and 2/3 of his company were lost. The French boarded the Terrible and found only 26 men alive, 16 of whom were severely wounded. John Withy, the 3rd Lieutenant of the Terrible and a survivor of the battle, claimed that Captain Death initially survived the battle, but was shot after he had struck the colours. His body was tossed into the sea.
The badly damaged Terrible was towed to Saint-Malo. When word of the battle reached England, funds were raised for William Death's widow, as well as the survivors. Captain Death's battles against the French were cited as examples of English courage against superior odds.
A young Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine
Thomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
had intended to join Captain Death's crew, but was dissuaded by his father. In his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense
Common Sense (pamphlet)
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, during the American Revolution. Common Sense, signed "Written by an Englishman", became an immediate success. In relation to the population of the Colonies at that time, it had the largest...
, Paine cited Captain Death's battles in his argument that the American colonies should raise a naval fleet. An English folk ballad titled "Captain Death" was printed as early as 1783, and laments the loss of the "brave Captain Death."
It is said that the Terrible was equipped at 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...
, commanded by Captain Death, Lieutenant Devil, and had a surgeon named Ghost.
It was all-in-all, in a word, Terrible.