Piracy

For illegal copying of computer files, see software piracy.

Piracy can mean different things; it can be a crime that is committed. A human on a ship at sea who steals from other ships is called a pirate. Pirates usually have small, fast boats. Pirates use such boats to attack other ships, which are usually large cargo ships.^[1]

The Jolly Roger flag is a well-known pirate symbol

For as long as ships have sailed the sea, there have been pirates. Ancient Egypt and the Romans, Medieval kings, and the British Empire dealt with pirates. Fighting pirates has sometimes been one of the most important roles of a navy.

Piracy still happens in the modern world.^[1][2][3] The Gulf of Aden (which is off the coast of Somalia) has especially high rates of pirate attacks, mostly by Somali pirates.^[1]

Modern

Usually, modern pirates climb onto ships to get money. In the process, they may kill the crew or hold it for ransom. In a very few cases, they may also take over the ship and sell its cargo.

The cargo ships that travel the oceans are huge, but they usually have very few crew members working on them. Their size often makes the ships carry a lot of money in the safe. The money is used to pay the crew, to pay for the taxes to stay at a port, or to pass through a channel.

Famous pirates

Real pirates

• Edward Teach (a.k.a. Blackbeard)
• Francis Drake
• Jack Rackham (a.k.a Calico Jack)
• Henry Every (a.k.a Long Ben)
• Anne Bonny
• Wijerd Jelckama
• Pier Gerlofs Donia
• Captain Kidd
• Amaro Pargo
• Jean Lafitte

Pirates in fiction

• Jack Sparrow. He is in the film series Pirates of the Caribbean.

Related pages

• Pirate code
• Piracy in the Caribbean
• Organized crime
• Robbery