Bartholomew Sharp

Who was Bartholomew Sharp?

Bartholomew Sharp was an English buccaneer whose pirate career lasted only three years. His flagship was the Trinity.

Sharp's career as a pirate captain began when the buccaneers with whom he was sailing round South America needed a new commander. He quickly proved himself a natural leader and a capable seaman; however, these qualities did not prevent him being deposed as captain in January 1681, after storms and setbacks provoked a mutiny. His successor was killed three weeks later, and Sharp resumed command. Under him the buccaneers continued around South America and up to the Caribbean, taking 25 Spanish ships and plundering numerous Spanish towns. Bartholomew Sharp is credited as being the first Englishman ever to travel eastwards around Cape Horn. Sharp had planned to return to England via the Strait of Magellan, but a storm pushed the Trinity too far south, forcing him to navigate the Cape. An eyewitness account of Sharp's adventures was published in The Dangerous Voyage And Bold Assaults of Captain Bartholomew Sharp and Others,by Basil Ringrose London, 1684.