Robert Maynard

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Robert Maynard fighting Blackbeard. Painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
Blackbeard's head on Maynard's ship

Robert Maynard (born September 19, 1684 in Dartford , Kent , † January 1, 1751 in Great Mongeham , Kent) was an officer in the British Royal Navy and is famous for his victory over the pirate Blackbeard .

In 1718 he served as a lieutenant on HMS Pearl when the Governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, gave him command of two sloops , the HMS Ranger and the HMS Jane, to bring Blackbeard in the shallow waters off Ocracoke . Maynard reached Ocracoke (north Carolina) on November 21, 1718. Blackbeard attacked first and fired at the sloops, killing several of Maynard's men. Maynard then went on a ruse and kept most of his men hidden below deck, whereupon Blackbeard assumed that the Royal Navy ships and their crew had suffered serious damage. He ordered them to be boarded. When he and his men crossed onto the deck of Maynard's ship, the trap snapped shut and a heavy fight ensued. In the course of the engagement, Maynard and Blackbeard faced one another. In this duel, Blackbeard fell; As was subsequently revealed, his body had around 20 stab wounds and 5 gunshot wounds. Lieutenant Robert Maynard beheaded the pirate, tied his head to the bow of his ship, and set sail for Virginia, where the other pirates who had been captured were hanged.

In 1740 Maynard was promoted to captain and last commanded HMS Ipswich.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Great Mongeham with Index of names and places at end at kentarchaeology.org.uk
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 5740, HMSO, London, April 21, 1719, p. 1 ( PDF , English).
  3. ↑ Teach, Edward . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 26 : Submarine Mines - Tom-Tom . London 1911, p. 483 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
  4. ^ Blair Howard, Mary K. Burnham, Bill Burnham: The Virginia Handbook . books.google.com. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Maynard, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British officer in the Royal Navy
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1684
PLACE OF BIRTH Dartford , Kent
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1751
Place of death Great Mongeham , Kent