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- "Ready the ship - for battle. Roundly! We make way at first light!"
"Battle, sir?"
"A military target has presented itself."
"A desirable target, I wager."
"Desirable? Oh my. Very much so." - ―John Benbow and Joshamee Gibbs
John Benbow was a high-ranking officer of the British Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War. Leading the British forces in the Caribbean, Admiral Benbow pardoned and recruited many former pirates, including Joshamee Gibbs, Pintel, and Ragetti, for the British cause. Aboard his flagship, the HMS Bonaventure, Benbow eventually led his fleet against the forces of the Queen of Spain herself—Inez Luisa Gabriella di Savoia.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
- "You do no business with the Spanish. None. You'll fashion them no charts!"
"Never. May the deep seas and cannibal fish receive them." - ―John Benbow and Philip Swift
Not much is known about John Benbow's early life except that he eventually joined the British Royal Navy. Loyal service to the King and country enabled him to rise to the rank of captain. At one time, Captain Benbow was in Kingston, Jamaica, where he visited the McNally & Sons Chart House. Predicting a war with Spain, he decided to cut all of the local map makers' connections with the Spanish, in order to keep most of the nautical advantage to himself and deny any to a potential enemy. Captain Benbow found the shop's owner, McNally, pushed him against the wall and threatened him not to make maps for the Spanish anymore. After McNally's apprentice, the former clergyman Philip Swift, suddenly appeared, Benbow repeated his order, to which Philip agreed. Benbow then put McNally down and took a moment to admire one of the charts masterfully crafted by Philip. When McNally stated the boy was obsessed with work, Benbow replied that the war was upon them and it was better to be ready.[1]
War with Spain[]
Pardoning the pirates[]
A war between Britain and Spain eventually broke out, with Benbow promoted to admiral and placed in command of a whole fleet. For seven years, the admiral led his forces against the Spanish, eventually leading aboard his flagship, the HMS Bonaventure. Through unknown circumstances, Benbow came in contact with Joshamee Gibbs, the former First Mate of the infamous pirate ship, the Black Pearl. To replenish his ranks for the war, and knowing that Gibbs and other pirates had plenty of experience with sailing and fighting in the Caribbean, Benbow sailed the Bonaventure for Georgetown, San Domingo. Once there, Admiral Benbow issued a proclamation of amnesty for all the pirates who surrendered to the British authorities before the last day of April in the year 1762. All the pirates who agreed to serve before the mast under the admiral's command for a single year or fight in a single battle on behalf of the Royal Navy would have all of their crimes officially pardoned.[1]
Some of the assembled pirates, including Pintel, Ragetti, Ezekiel, and Ho-Kwan, asked if the amnesty covered the more specific crimes, like burglary of a pub, public urination, heretical deeds and thoughts, as well as conspiracy to poison the King. Benbow replied positively, but then the pirate Stede asked if the pardon covered the crime of nailing the intestines of a prisoner to a tree, and using fire to make them run until they died. Disgusted with the torturous deed, Pintel pulled out his pistol and shot Stede. Then he calmly asked Benbow if he would be pardoned for the murder he had just committed, to which the shocked admiral simply said, "Aye." Shortly after, Benbow learned about the whereabouts of Inez Luisa Gabriella di Savoia, the Queen Regent of Spain. As the former pirates boarded the Bonaventure and put on the Royal Navy uniforms, Benbow told Gibbs to ready the ship for battle because they were leaving the port in the morning.[1]
Hunting the Queen of Spain[]
- "She’s wiped out a fishing village. On the island of San Domingo."
"Orders, sir?"
"Cancel tea, and splice the mainbrace. Then it’s off to assassinate the Queen of Spain." - ―John Benbow and Joshamee Gibbs
While the British fleet of nearly one hundred ships sailed around the Caribbean, the Spanish forces under the command of Queen Inez wiped out the entire population of a small English fishing village in San Domingo. News of the massacre eventually reached the British. Admiral Benbow and his officers were assembled in the captain's cabin when the messenger brought them the news. As Gibbs asked the admiral for orders, Benbow told him to cancel tea because it was time to assassinate Queen Inez of Spain herself.[1]
As Admiral Benbow's fleet approached the island, Gibbs, Pintel, and Ragetti pulled a half-drowned young man out of the sea. They brought him to the captain's cabin where Benbow and six of his captains studied the maps to decide how to attack the Spanish fleet which was, according to their intelligence, assembled in Georgetown Bay, in the south of the island. When the young man was brought inside, Benbow recognized him as Philip Swift, the cartographer he met years ago. Philip then told them he was left to drown by Queen Inez of Spain. At first, Benbow was pleased with his intelligence seemingly confirmed. As he looked at the map, Philip told the admiral that the Queen was in another location away from her fleet. Being then pointed at Fort San Cristobal, an old fort on the northern coast, Admiral Benbow swiftly ordered his officers to adjust course and sail the fleet to the north.[1]
Battle of Fort San Cristobal[]
- "Sir. I advise you call off the attack. Retreat at once."
"Retreat."
"Aye!"
"With victory all but assured?"
"Sir, it is a trap. The Queen has put herself forth as bait. That savvy you assigned to me, well here it be. Take fresh apprehension and retreat, I tell you, or rue the day." - ―Joshamee Gibbs and John Benbow
Admiral Benbow's fleet eventually reached Fort San Cristobal, and all the British ships took their positions. As the gunners aimed dozens of cannons at the old fort, Benbow told Gibbs to order the crew to fire at will. Soon, all the ships opened fire and hundreds of cannonballs streaked through the air, smashing the walls of the fort. The Spanish soldiers in the fort returned fire, trying to sink their opponents. However, the superior numbers of the British forces slowly but steadily outmatched the Spanish, and the victory for Benbow seemed all but certain.[1]
Unbeknownst to Benbow, in the confusion of the battle, Jack Sparrow snuck aboard the Bonaventure, where he found several of his former crew members, including Gibbs. He told them about the Mermaid Trove, the "treasure of all treasures" that was waiting for them off the shore, and warned them about Queen Inez possessing a supernatural weapon, the legendary Trident of Neptune. While most of the former pirates decided to desert and take their chances with Jack, Gibbs decided to stay on board out of loyalty to Benbow.[1]
Admiral Benbow stood on the quarterdeck of the Bonaventure, watching the walls of Fort San Cristobal crumble under the heavy fire from the British guns. When Gibbs approached Benbow to advise him to call off the attack, the admiral slowly turned to his first mate and asked why he would do that when victory was all but assured. Although Gibbs revealed that the Queen's presence in the fort was only bait and the British fleet was about to fall into a trap, the admiral remained doubtful until Gibbs revealed the latest intelligence came from Jack Sparrow himself. Benbow stood for a few moments before finally coming to a decision, telling Gibbs to order the fleet to retreat. However, as the ships slowly started turning away, the waters of the ocean started to swirl and part. As the strong gale rocked the ship, Benbow nearly fell overboard. He managed to grab the rail at the last moment, but a stray bullet from the fort shot him in the chest. As the waters receded, Benbow's entire fleet ended up running aground on the dried up bottom of the sea.[1]
With Gibbs now in command, Benbow's crew abandoned ship, carrying the wounded admiral with them, trying to reach land before the waters return and drown them all. However, the shore was miles away, and Tai Huang told Gibbs to leave the admiral behind. Loyal and stubborn, Gibbs had no intention of abandoning his superior officer, and ordered Huang and a few other sailors to put Benbow into the longboat that was lying in the sand nearby. Remembering the crazy methods used by Jack Sparrow, Gibbs quickly formed a plan and Benbow's crew started pushing the boat toward the nearest wall of water. As they reached their destination, Gibbs tied the admiral to the plank seats and then ordered the crew to flip the boat upside down. Holding the boat in the air, the sailors then started running toward the water, breaking the wall and finding themselves in the sea again. The air trapped in the overturned boat then carried them all to the surface, where Benbow's crew managed to put the boat right-side up again. Eventually the walls of water closed and the crew rowed the boat ashore, where they bandaged Admiral Benbow's wounds and started walking toward Fort San Cristobal. When Benbow's crew reached the fort, they found Queen Inez alone, trying to drag her throne through the sand on the beach.[1] Benbow's further fate is unknown.
Personality and traits[]
- "I am no fool, Mister Gibbs. I will heed your advice. Signal full retreat. Immediately!"
- ―John Benbow to Joshamee Gibbs
John Benbow's success earned him both public notoriety and a promotion to admiral. Despite his high rank, or maybe exactly because of it, Admiral Benbow showed tactfulness when dealing with all of his subordinates, no matter if they were long-serving Royal Navy officers or recently-recruited former pirates. Most of the time, Benbow was open-minded, patient, and willing to listen, especially if the advice was coming from Joshamee Gibbs, a veteran seaman with years of experience of sailing with various pirates, but most notably with Captain Jack Sparrow. Benbow even considered himself a fan of Sparrow, despite the pirate's status of a wanted outlaw. On one occasion, when Gibbs asked Benbow to break off the attack, simply because Jack Sparrow told him to, the admiral decided to heed the advice, even with victory seemingly in their grasp.
However, Benbow also showed ruthlessness from time to time. Captain Benbow threatened the cartographer McNally in Kingston, Jamaica, ordering him not to make maps for the Spanish anymore, despite the current state of peace between Britain and Spain. Years later, when Admiral Benbow pardoned a group of pirates in Georgetown and recruited them for his crew, he told them all of their crimes would be forgiven, before quietly adding, "If not in this life, surely the next," well aware that many of them would simply serve as cannon fodder and die in the approaching battles with the Spanish.[2]
Equipment and skills[]
Benbow was an admiral in command of the British Royal Navy forces in the Caribbean, commanding dozens of warships. He commanded great respect and loyalty from all of his subordinates, no matter if they were regular officers or former pirates. Benbow also showed exceptional memory. When Philip Swift was brought into the captain's cabin of the Bonaventure, the admiral instantly recognized him, despite seeing him only one time, approximately seven years earlier.
Behind the scenes[]
The historical Admiral Benbow.
- Admiral John Benbow has yet to appear in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. So far, he has only appeared in Terry Rossio's 2012 screenplay draft for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.[1] Rossio's script was rejected and Jeff Nathanson later wrote at least one script featuring two British Navy officers, Captain John Brand and Admiral Scarfield.[3] By the final version of the story, Brand became Capitán Armando Salazar and Admiral Scarfield became Lieutenant John Scarfield.[4]
- Admiral Benbow was a reference to the Admiral Benbow Inn from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. The inn was a place where young Jim Hawkins lived and where Blind Pew showed up to give the Black Spot to Billy Bones. Stevenson based the name on the real John Benbow (Shrewsbury, England, 10 March 1653 – Port Royal, Jamaica, 4 November 1702), an officer who led the Royal Navy against the French privateers and the Barbary Corsairs. His fame and success earned him public notoriety and a promotion to Admiral. He was involved in an incident during the Action of August 1702, where a number of his captains refused to support him while commanding a squadron of ships. Benbow instigated the trial and later imprisonment or execution of a number of the captains involved. These events contributed to his notoriety, and led to many references to him in popular culture.[2]
- There are several historical inaccuracies related to John Benbow:
- Presuming the Pirates character was meant to be based on the real-world historical John Benbow, the latter died in 1702. This was almost 50 years before the current timeline in which Dead Men Tell No Tales was to take place, and over 50 years before the Seven Years' War.
- It's interesting to note that John Benbow had a son, who was also named John Benbow and grew up to serve in the Royal Navy, but he passed away only a few years after his father. Presuming he had lived longer, the son could have been the John Benbow featured in Terry Rossio's screenplay, but regardless, his addition to the story would also be considered historically inaccurate.
- While he leads his fleet in a hunt for the Queen of Spain Benbow is directly in command of his flagship, the HMS Bonaventure. Although Joshamee Gibbs serves as Benbow's first mate and relays his orders to the ship's crew, the admiral should only be in charge of a fleet, and the Bonaventure should have its own captain to command the ship.
- During a conversation with Joshamee Gibbs, Benbow says he's a fan of Jack Sparrow. Historically speaking, the word "fan" originated in the late 19th century as a short form of the word fanatic.
Appearances[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales by Terry Rossio (Draft dated August 15, 2012)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Men Tell No Tales - Annotations - Terry Rossio - 8/14/12 - Page 6
- ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales