Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Who was the female pirate who controlled China's waters?
A semi-fictionalized account of Ching Shih's piracy appeared in Jorge Luis Borges's short story "The Widow Ching, Lady Pirate" (part of "A Universal History of Infamy" (1935)), where she is described as "a lady pirate who operated in Asian waters, all the way from the Yellow Sea to the rivers of the Annam coast", and who, after surrendering to the imperial forces, is pardoned and allowed to live the rest of her life as an opium smuggler. Borges acknowledged the 1932 book "The History of Piracy", by Philip Gosse (grandson of the naturalist Philip Henry Gosse), as the source of the tale.
Pirate historians of the first half of the 20th century occasionally adopted Fiske's term "Golden Age," without necessarily following his beginning and ending dates for it. The most expansive definition of an age of piracy was that of Patrick Pringle, who wrote in 1951 that "the most flourishing era in the history of piracy ... began in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and ended in the second decade of the eighteenth century." This idea starkly contradicted Fiske, who had hotly denied that such Elizabethan figures as Drake were pirates.
"Calico" Jack Rackham- played by David Joseph Boyd- was a pirate who conducted his operations in the Bahamas and Cuba. Rackham was not as successful in his missions as the previous two pirates mentioned and was mostly known for his relations with the two female pirates Anne Bonny (played by Michelle Michaels) and Mary Read (played by Kimberly Adair), who served under his command. This pirate’s most successful prize, Kingston, did not remain long in his power and therefore had left the pirate with little to be proud of. Jack’s legacy would not have been much had it not been for Bonny and Read. He was brought to his death after him and his crew were captured in Jamaica, tried and hung on November 28, 1720.
In calm seas, following a typhoon in which the ship suffered damage to its cargo and the deaths of some crew, the Kin Lung is boarded by Malay pirates, as McArdle expected and with whom he is in alliance. The pirates steal personal possessions from passengers. Unable to find gold in the ships strongbox, which Capt. Gaskell has replaced with sand, they torture Capt. Gaskell using a Malay Boot but the captain will not reveal the gold's location. Instead, with bravado, Gaskell instructs the pirates, as they prepare to torture him: "My size is 9C", before fainting from pain. While leaving the ship, minus the gold they intended to steal, the pirate's ship is bombed by 3rd officer Davis, who dies while throwing a Mills Bomb as a grenade, and later strafed by Capt. Gaskell. Their ship sinks in the China Seas.
In 1713 and 1714 a series of peace treaties ended the War of the Spanish Succession. As a result, thousands of seamen, including Britain's paramilitary privateers, were relieved of military duty, at a time when cross-Atlantic colonial shipping trade was beginning to boom. In addition, Europeans who had been pushed by unemployment to become sailors and soldiers involved in slaving were often enthusiastic to abandon that profession and turn to pirating, giving pirate captains a steady pool of recruits in west African waters and coasts.
The "Elizabeth II" is a full-size representative 16th-century sailing ship that was designed and named after one of the seven ships used by Sir Walter Raleigh's fleet when he first brought colonists to Roanoke Island in 1587. The ship is a square-rigged bark with three masts, and 69 feet long, 17 feet wide and draws 8 feet of water. Guides dressed in period clothing portray the seamen and colonists who traveled to Roanoke with the fleet.
The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894 is a 2012 Chinese historical war film directed and written by Feng Xiaoning, starring Lu Yi, Xia Yu and others. It is based on the events in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, with emphasis on the naval battles and the career of the Chinese naval officer Deng Shichang. The film premiered in China at the International Convention Centre in Weihai, Shandong, on 26 June 2012.
The outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 prompted the transfer of "Arcona" and two of her sister ships to East Asia as the nucleus of the East Asia Division. "Arcona" served as the divisional flagship until early 1895, when she was replaced by the protected cruiser . "Arcona" and the rest of the division remained off China in the aftermath of the Sino-Japanese War to protect Europeans against riots directed at foreigners. The ship was under repair when Otto von Diederichs seized the Kiautschou Bay concession in China with the rest of the Division in 1897, and was therefore unable to participate in the operation, though she later assisted in defending the concession.
Between 1713 and 1714, a succession of peace treaties was signed which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. With the end of this conflict, thousands of seamen, including Britain's paramilitary privateers, were relieved of military duty. The result was a large number of trained, idle sailors at a time when the cross-Atlantic colonial shipping trade was beginning to boom. In addition, Europeans who had been pushed by unemployment to become sailors and soldiers involved in slaving were often enthusiastic to abandon that profession and turn to pirating, giving pirate captains for many years a constant pool of trained European recruits to be found in west African waters and coasts.
By the 15th century, Europeans had wrested control of the spice trade from the Muslims. They did this by bypassing the Middle East and sending their cargo-ships around the Cape of Good Hope to India. The Portuguese mariner Diogo Dias became the first European to set foot on Madagascar when his ship, bound for India, blew off course in 1500. In the ensuing two-hundred years, the English and French tried (and failed) to establish settlements on the island.
The Orwell Lady (originally New Mary Louise.) is a purpose built river cruiser (built 1979) currently operating 13 miles of the river Orwell and sails from Ipswich, England. The Orwell lady is 57 ft (17.13m) long and 14 ft (4.26m) in the beam, weighs 42 tonnes, and carries 118 passengers plus crew. The Orwell Lady sails from Ipswich dock and sails to the end of the Orwell at the Port of Felixstowe allowing for views of Shotley harbour and the historic town of Harwich. The boat has a fully functioning bar and panoramic views which has helped secure the boat as a popular tourist attraction in Ipswich. In recent years the boat has become one of the most popular river cruises in East Anglia.
"The Sino-Japanese War at Sea 1894" is set in the late 19th century and based on the events of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), which was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan.
On the outbreak of the War of 1812, MacDonald sought support from the Government of the United Kingdom for an assault the principal fur trading station of the Pacific Fur Company, Fort Astoria. This venture was funded by John Jacob Astor as a subsidiary of the American Fur Company to compete against the NWC in the Oregon Country. At Portsmouth, he offered a lucrative contract to a young woman, Jane Barnes, to sail with him to the Columbia and become the first white woman on the North Pacific coast. MacDonald and his men sailed up to the Pacific Ocean via Cape Horn and the Juan Fernández Islands. In 1813, MacDonald and his Nor’Westers landed at Fort Astoria, finding it already in the possession of the NWC. Many employees of the Pacific Fur Company signed on to work under the NWC. Despite having been badly burned in an explosion at sea, MacDonald took charge of the new post where he stayed until the spring of 1814. Along with those PFC employees uninterested in working for the NWC, MacDonald led a brigade of about 90 men in ten canoes for Fort William.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, the pirates are able to bypass authorities and elude detection by taking cover in numerous islands that readily surround the area. The region surrounding Indonesia alone has an estimate of over seventeen hundred islands and a seascape of tropical isles in which pirates are able to seek refuge. In addition, numerous major naval forces that use to patrol high seas has declined by fifty percent and this has adversely propelled the rate of pirate attacks in Indonesia. Many of these crimes are conducted for ransom, but there is a huge risk involved when these pirates are illegal syndicates who hijack tug boats, barges and large tankers. These containers carry explosive natural gases that can be used as weapons. The worry on piracy in Indonesia continues to soar when it was recorded back in 2012 that across the Indonesian archipelago, the number of petty thefts recorded was eighty-one and this accounts to more than one quarter of the world's piracy incidents. In addition, economic drivers such as poverty and corruption also accounts to the high rates of pirate attacks. As supported in a research article by David Rosenberg, the number of crimes has shot up ever since the 1997 currency crisis in Indonesia, driving numerous people to becoming pirates solely to earn a living wage. According to the Bali Times, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are all responsible for patrolling their own regions and they do not have any jurisdiction beyond their water territories, making regional waters vulnerable and easy for pirates to escape. Furthermore, with Indonesia's coastline being twice as long as the perimeter of the earth, patrolling their water territory with slightly more than a dozen vessels is clearly inadequate. Within the first six months of 2012, Indonesia alone is responsible for twenty percent of the pirate attacks that happened globally.
Upon commissioning, the sister ships were assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet. "Hyūga" had an explosion in one of her main gun turrets that killed 11 men and injured 25 in 1919; the following year she accidentally collided with and sank a schooner, losing two crewmen. Before the start of the Pacific War, both ships frequently exercised off the coasts of the Soviet Union, Korea and China in addition to training in Japanese waters. "Ise" hosted Edward, Prince of Wales, and his aide-de-camp Lieutenant Louis Mountbatten in 1922 during the prince's visit to Japan. In Korea Bay when the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake struck, they sailed to Kyushu where they loaded supplies from for the victims on 4 September. Together with two other battleships and a pair of light cruisers, "Ise" sank the destroyer in 1926 during gunnery practice. "Ise"s AA armament was upgraded in 1931 and "Hyūga"s two years later. The latter ship was modernized in 1934–36 and "Ise" in 1935–37, both at Kure Naval Arsenal. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the sisters frequently patrolled the Chinese coast in support of the blockade imposed by Japan. In August 1937 "Hyūga" ferried two battalions of Special Naval Landing Forces to Port Arthur. Three years later, she served as the flagship for the Emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo, Henry Pu-yi, during his state visit to Japan in June 1940. On 15 November the ships were transferred to the 2nd Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet. The sisters were refitted in late 1940 in preparation for war, which included the fitting of external degaussing coils and additional AA directors.
One of the ships under command of Diogo Dias arrived at a coast that was not in East Africa. Two years later, a chart already showed an elongated island east of Africa that bore the name Madagascar. But only a century later, between 1613 and 1619, did the Portuguese explore the island in detail. They signed treaties with local chieftains and sent the first missionaries, who found it impossible to make locals believe in Hell, and were eventually expelled.
The first modern cruise, which defined the journey not just as transport but as the actual reward, commenced on 22 January 1891, when the SS "Auguste Victoria" (named after the German empress) set sail to cruise the Mediterranean for six weeks. The competitors initially sniggered at Ballin, who organized and supervised the voyage personally, but the project was a huge success. In order to accommodate the growing demand, another three of the SS "Auguste Victoria"'s sister ships operated as cruise liners, and in 1899, the Hamburg-America Line commissioned Blohm & Voss to construct the first purpose-built cruise ship, the "Prinzessin Victoria Luise". It was the very first cruise ship, one exclusively tailored for the needs of well-to-do passengers.
The Qing conquest of China lasted for several more decades. Resistance to Qing rule was intensified by the "haircutting command" on 21 July 1645, which forced all Chinese men to adopt the clothing of the Manchus and shave their forehead, leaving their remaining hair tied into a queue. Zhu Youlang, the last emperor of the Southern Ming, was killed by Wu Sangui in 1662. Wu Sangui was given a large territory in the southwest China, where he reigned as a satrap until he was recalled to Beijing in 1673. He and three other governors then rose in rebellion against the Qing. Though Wu died in 1678, the rebellion of the Three Feudatories lasted until 1681. In 1683 the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) defeated the forces of Koxinga, the leader of the last Ming restoration movement. After this period of solidification, the Qing controlled China until 1912.
"Titanic" made her way out of the port of Southampton on April 10, 1912. As she was being guided into the harbor, the giant ship caused a large displacement of water which made the moored "SS City of New York" swiftly rise and fall. The motion snapped the mooring cables tethering the "New York" and the ship began moving toward "Titanic". A collision was narrowly averted when one of the tugboats assisting "Titanic" was able to get a line on the "New York"; the tugboat then towed the wayward ship out of the path of the "Titanic". The two ships were between three and four feet apart before the "New York" was able to be halted. Harris was at the rail of "Titanic" watching the efforts to stop the "New York" when a stranger came up to her and asked, "Do you love life?" Harris replied that she did; the stranger went on, "That was a bad omen. Get off this ship at Cherbourg, if we get that far. That's what I'm going to do."
On 12 April 1922, while at Yokohama, "Ise" hosted a delegation which included the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII), who was accompanied by his second cousin, the future Lord Mountbatten of Burma. Captain Kanna Norikazu relieved Nagasawa on 1 December. The ship aided survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in September 1923. From the early 1920s through the late 1930s, "Ise" mostly cruised off the coast of China. Little detailed information is available about her activities during the 1920s, although she helped sink the obsolete destroyer during gunnery training on 10 August 1926. The ship was overhauled in 1928–1929, during which her forward superstructure was enlarged and her aviation facilities improved.
While returning to Spain, the "Niña" and "Pinta" encountered the roughest storm of their journey, and, on the night of 13 February, lost contact with each other. All hands on the "Niña" vowed, if they were spared, to make a pilgrimage to the nearest church of Our Lady wherever they first made land. On the morning of February 15, land was spotted. Columbus believed they were approaching the Azore Islands, but other members of the crew felt that they were considerably north of the islands. Columbus turned out to be right. On the night of February 17, the "Niña" laid anchor at Santa Maria Island, but the cable broke on sharp rocks, forcing Columbus to stay offshore until the morning, when a safer location was found to drop anchor nearby. A few sailors took a boat to the island, where they were told by several islanders of a still safer place to land, so the Niña moved once again. At this spot, Columbus took on board several islanders who had gathered onshore with food, and told them that his crew wished to come ashore to fulfill their vow. The islanders told him that a small shrine dedicated to Our Lady was nearby. Columbus sent half of the crew members to the island to fulfill their vow, but he and the rest of the crew stayed on the Niña, planning to send the other half to the island upon the return of the first crew members. While the first crew members were saying their prayers at the shrine, they were taken prisoner by the islanders, under orders from the island's captain, João de Castanheira, ostensibly out of fear that the men were pirates. The boat that the crew members had taken to the island was then commandeered by Castanheira, which he took with several armed men to the "Niña", in an attempt to arrest Columbus. During a verbal battle across the bows of both craft, during which Columbus did not grant permission for him to come aboard, Castanheira announced that he did not believe or care who Columbus said that he was, especially if he was indeed from Spain. Castanheira returned to the island. However, after another two days, Castanheira released the prisoners, having been unable to get confessions from them, and having been unable to capture his real target, Columbus. There are later claims that Columbus was also captured, but this is not backed up by Columbus's log book.
Pirates of the South China Coast () were Chinese pirates who active throughout the South China Sea from the late 18th century to the 19th century, mainly from 1790 to 1810. Since 1805, the Pirates of the South China Coast entered the most powerful period, many pirates were fully trained by the Tây Sơn dynasty of Vietnam.
Sao Feng () is portrayed by Chow Yun-fat. Sao Feng is the pirate lord of the South China Sea and his character is based on the legendary Chinese pirate Cheung Po Tsai. He appears in "At World's End". Feng is depicted as an unscrupulous pirate who will do anything to join with the winning side, which he considers to be "just good business".
During the Qing period, Chinese pirate fleets grew increasingly large. The effects large-scale piracy had on the Chinese economy were immense. They preyed voraciously on China's junk trade, which flourished in Fujian and Guangdong and was a vital artery of Chinese commerce. Pirate fleets exercised hegemony over villages on the coast, collecting revenue by exacting tribute and running extortion rackets. In 1802, the menacing Zheng Yi inherited the fleet of his cousin, captain Zheng Qi, whose death provided Zheng Yi with considerably more influence in the world of piracy. Zheng Yi and his wife, Zheng Yi Sao (who would eventually inherit the leadership of his pirate confederacy) then formed a pirate coalition that, by 1804, consisted of over ten thousand men. Their military might alone was sufficient to combat the Qing navy. However, a combination of famine, Qing naval opposition, and internal rifts crippled piracy in China around the 1820s, and it has never again reached the same status.
In Missee Lee, Arthur Ransome's young adult novel set in the South China Sea waters, the title role is taken by a character who shares many of Lai Choi San's distinguishing characteristics. Missee Lee, who commands a flotilla of armed junks sailed by muscular Chinese pirates, both kidnaps and then rescues the heroic English children sailing in the area.