Handcrafted Model Ships - Wooden Captain Kidd's Adventure Galley Model Pirate Ship 15"

The Adventure Galley Sets Sail:

       Constructed in England in 1695, the Adventure Galley was called “the first ship ever built by the British to hunt pirates.” Weighing in at 285 tons, with a compliment of approximately 32 cannons, she was a ship complete with full sails, though she was also outfitted with oars. That same year, Captain William Kidd set sail from New York to England in search of a Royal Commission as a privateer. Granted letters of marque by the King William III of England, Captain Kidd worked out a venture with English noblemen as investors, a deal was made, and he was appointed the Adventure Galley.
       In April of 1696 Captain Kidd sailed the Adventure Galley out of London, though with only about half of the crew necessary to properly operate the ship. At a disadvantage on the outset, Kidd sailed to New York to bolster his crew, recruiting suitable sailors and continuing his mission. Sailing out onto the Atlantic, the Adventure Galley traveled Southwest, following the winds and eventually reaching the South Atlantic.

Kidd is Deemed a Pirate:

       By mid-December of that year the Adventure Galley found itself in thick fog in the South Atlantic; as the fog cleared Kidd found his ship in the midst of Royal Navy squadron that had been severely hindered by scurvy and dysentery. By law the Royal Navy was allowed to impress up to half of Kidd’s crew into service aboard their navy vessels, and knowing this, Kidd quietly ordered his crew to row the Adventure Galley away that night. Though he escaped with crew and ship intact, the episode would come back to haunt him as the Commander of the British fleet declared that Kidd’s actions seemed suspicious and that he may, in fact, be a pirate. Continuing on to the Indian Ocean, the Adventure Galley rounded the Cape of Good Hope and made way for Madagascar to effect repairs.

The Fate of the Adventure Galley:

       After repairing the Adventure Galley, Kidd faced his next problem of a crew that needed to be paid and fed, pushing on through the Indian Ocean in the hopes of capturing a large prize vessel. Rounding the tip of India in January of 1698, the Quedah Merchant was a large cargo ship containing silk, muslin, sugar, opium, and saltpeter; all prized and exceedingly valuable merchandise. Two months after entering the Red Sea, the Quedah Merchant and Adventure Galley crossed paths, and with Kidd flying French colors aboard his ship, the crew of the Quedah was surprised and quickly defeated. With a new ship, of higher quality, Kidd returned along the coast of Africa where he eventually stripped and burned the Adventure Galley along  Île Sainte-Marie, off the coast of Madagascar, where she still remains to this day.