A gunpowder trail aboard the Interceptor.
- "Gunfire and gunpowder don't mix."
- ―A pirate
Gunpowder was the earliest known chemical explosive. Prior to the invention of gunpowder, many incendiary and burning devices had been used, including the Greek fire device of the ancient Byzantine Empire. Gunpowder was widely used as a propellant in many weapons in the Age of Piracy, including flintlocks, blunderbusses, hand grenades, and cannons.
Listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China, the invention of gunpowder is usually attributed to Chinese alchemy. The invention was made perhaps as early as during the Tang Dynasty (9th century), but certainly by the Song Dynasty (11th century). Knowledge of gunpowder spread throughout the Old World as a result of the Mongol conquests of the 13th century. It was employed in warfare to some effect from at least the 14th century, although the development of effective artillery took place during the 15th century, and firearms came to dominate Early Modern warfare in Europe by the 17th century.
History[]
- "And I am short on powder. I’ll need half of yours."
"Half my powder. That’s asking a lot. There are pirates in these waters, love." - ―Esmeralda and Jack Sparrow
For flintlock weapons, the flint springs forward where the trigger is pulled, striking to ignite gunpowder. Marksmanship took a little longer for Jack Sparrow to master. He trained himself to shoot by taking aim at empty wine bottles tossed from the Black Pearl's deck rail. A bucket of shot and a sack of gunpowder later, he could hit nine out of ten bottles.[1] There's enough gunpowder and ammunition aboard the Pearl to start a small war.[2]
Captain Hector Barbossa and the cursed crew of the Black Pearl seemed to favor destroying the ships they attacked by blowing up the powder magazine. They used this method to destroy the Princess, a British merchant vessel carrying a young Will Turner, who wore an Aztec gold medallion that summoned the cursed pirates. Turner ended up being the sole survivor of the explosion, and was rescued by the HMS Dauntless. Eight years later, during a fierce battle between the Black Pearl and the commandeered HMS Interceptor, Koehler and Twigg were sent to blow up the magazine and ignited a gunpowder trail that destroyed the Interceptor—which Turner again narrowly managed to survive.[3]
About one year after Jack Sparrow reclaimed the Black Pearl, Will Turner took charge in defending the ship from the Kraken's attack off the coast of Isla Cruces, while Sparrow fled the ship in a moment of cowardice. Will ordered Jack's crew to gather all of the Pearl's gunpowder barrels into a net while Elizabeth Swann stood at the ready with a musket, in the hopes of creating an explosion that would hurt or kill the creature. However, the crew found that the Pearl was short on gunpowder, forcing them to load their supply of rum on Turner's orders as well. Ultimately, Sparrow returned to the Pearl and took the shot, blowing up the hoisted gunpowder and wounding the Kraken, thus buying the survivors enough time to abandon ship.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
- In Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland, it is implied that Mister Coote, Billie How, and their mates are about to die in a fiery blast from their own foolishness, as their pistol shots narrowly miss kegs of gunpowder. The finale shootout scene is embellished with a superimposed explosion effect in the 1968 Wonderful World of Disney episode, "Disneyland: From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow".
- Though unintentional, the net of gunpowder barrels used by Will Turner to defeat the Kraken in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was reminiscent of the dangling barrels of explosives in a scene from the original Disney ride.[5]
Appearances[]
- Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean (First appearance)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow
- The Price of Freedom
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Legends of the Brethren Court
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Sources[]
- Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
