Louis Guittar

Who was Louis Guittar?

Louis Guittar was a French pirate active in the Caribbean and West Indies during the late 1690s and early 18th century.

Based in St. Malo, Guittar commanded the 28-gun La Paix and was a former privateer and would attack merchant shipping in the Caribbean and Mid-Atlantic area during the late 1690s.

In early 1700, after plundering and sinking five merchant ships in Chesapeake Bay, he was surprised by the fifth-rate frigate HMS Shoreham under Captain William Passenger after chasing the remaining Quaker into Lynnhaven Bay, Virginia on May 3, 1700.

Although evenly matched, with Passenger's 115 crew and 28 guns to the Guittar's crew consisting of between 150 and 160 sailors and 20 mounted guns, Guittar was forced to surrender after a 12-hour battle. With 26 men killed, HMS Shoreham took on the surviving crew members, of which more than half were wounded. Transferred to England, Guittar and 23 of his crew were tried for piracy and hanged in London several months later.