DIRK CHIVERS
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Who was Dirk Chivers?

There is no information of the early life of Dirk Chivers, but it is know that he was a Dutch privateer who signed on as a crew member of the Portsmouth Adventure in 1694 under Captain Joseph Farrell, sailing from Rhode Island to the Red Sea.

In mid-1695, Chivers and Captain Farrell helped pirate Henry Every in the capture of two ships with a rich booty aboard, an that occurred action after they were sailing back to Rhode Island at the time in which Farrel's ship was wrecked near Mayotte, in the Comoro Islands.

Chivers and other crew members decided to stay in Mayotte while Farrell continued on to Rhode Island aboard Every's ship. In late 1695, Chivers signed aboard the 28-gun ship Resolution under Captain Robert Glover, who remained in the Red Sea for several months until he was involved in a mutiny against Captain Glover.

Glover's former crew elected Chivers as their new captain aboard a recently captured Arab ship named Rajapura. Captain Chivers renamed this ship as "The Soldado" and for the next year he successfully plundered several ships, capturing rich booties and valuable prizes before he teamed up with privateer John Hoar it the seize of two East India Company ships.

Captain Sawbridge was captured inside one of these ships, but his continuous moaning and complaints forced Chiver's crew to sew up the captain's lips with a sail needle. Indian vessels were ransomed and burned after the governor of Aden refused to pay for it.

In 1696, Chivers and Hoar sailed to Calcutta and captured new prizes at this harbor. Later they seized 4 vessels and demanded a ransom of £10,000 for their return, but they obtained 10 Indian ships sent by the governor against privateers so they opted to flee with no prize, heading up to Saint Mary's Island, where they stayed the summer of 1697 for repairs.

Back to the sea in 1698, Captain Chivers captured an English ship obtaining only a deal in exchange for rum. Later that year, Chivers teamed up with Robert Culliford in the capture of the Great Mohammed with £130,000 worth of booty and renamed this vessel as "The New Soldado".

When Chivers returned to Saint Mary's Island in 1699, four British battleships arrived to offer him a royal pardon that he accepted, returning to live on the merchantman Vine until his death.

 

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