New Providence

New Providence was an island in the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean. An excellent natural harbor, the island was located close to the all major Caribbean trade routes.

History
During the Golden Age of Piracy, New Providence was the capital of the British Bahamas. Presence of army was always imminent, but local governors were accepting bribes not to prosecute pirates for their crimes.

During the long English-Spanish wars, New Providence was attacked numerous times, and from 1703 to 1706, the island was untenable. However, the peace with Spanish, brought inhabitants and pirates back. By the year of 1716, in New Providence lived more than 500 pirates. The most famous pirates, who used New Providence as their base of operations, were Edward Teach "Blackbeard", Charles Vane, Jack Rackham and Benjamin Hornigold. However, so much pirate activity could not pass unnoticed.

In July 1718, the newly appointed British governor of New Providence, Woodes Rogers, declared war on piracy. When Woodes Rogers arrived with the three warships and two sloops, a few pirates fled, but most of them decided to gave up their pirate carriers and started to live honestly. In just a few days, island was entirely pledged from the pirates.

From a pirates den, New Providence became the most important base for anti-piracy operations in the Caribbean. Woodes Rogers appointed many capable captains as privateers to hunt remaining pirates. Some of them, like Benjamin Hornigold, were pirates themselves, but they were forced to become the pirate hunters. As result of their actions, after just three months of active anti-piracy campaign, many pirates were hanged in December 1718. Most of the remaining pirates, left the waters of New Providence, and tried to find new hunting grounds for their pirate activities.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned