Tortuga

For other uses, see Tortuga (disambiguation)

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General information
Location	Caribbean
Points of interest	Faithful Bride Coogan's Tavern Twelve Daggers Tortuga piggery Salty Cove Rat's Nest Thieves' Den Misty Mire King's Arm Bowdash Mansion
Notable inhabitants	Governor of Tortuga Scarlett Giselle Jack Sparrow Joshamee Gibbs Arabella Smith Pequeño El Grande James Sterling Sandspine Grogan Andrew Bowdash Horatio Fowler Davy Doubloon Ray Fishlander Geoffrey Bridgebreaker
Societal
Population	Pirates Smugglers Colonists of various nationalities
Affiliation	Kingdom of Spain Buccaneers Kingdom of France
Behind the scenes
First appearance	The Curse of the Black Pearl
Latest appearance	At World's End

"More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep the sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga, savvy? What do you think?"
"It'll linger."
"I'll tell you, mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted."

―Jack Sparrow and Will Turner

The Island of Tortuga, also known as simply Tortuga, was an island located in the Caribbean. Named by the Spanish after the turtle it resembled, this small but fertile and densely populated island lied to the north of Hispaniola. It was far enough from civilization to escape attention, but close to the route the treasure ships sail. Of all the pirate islands in the Caribbean, none was the equal of Tortuga. Dangerous, boisterous, drunken, and bawdy, Tortuga was pirate heaven.

Around the Golden Age of Piracy, the isle of Tortuga became a major center of piracy in the 17th century. A dank and dirty port, where the tides seem to have swept together the sum of pirates, privateers, prostitutes, thieves, and drunkards. Tortuga was a place for drunken pirates on the lookout for fresh risks and high adventure. The island itself became the ramshackle haven for pirates, rogues, scoundrels, outlaws and sailors in the Caribbean. With its cantered, rotting docks, weatherbeaten buildings, and odd assortment of livestock running free, it was far less civilized than Port Royal. Tortuga appeared to be generally a lawless place, one of the only places a pirate considered to be free with no governing law, despite the expansion of the East India Trading Company. One of the most popular places on Tortuga was the Faithful Bride tavern.

History

17th century

"Welcome to Tortuga!"

―Jack Sparrow

Spanish planters began to cultivate Tortuga in 1598, with tobacco as their main crop, although there was not much fertile land to grow it on. They also tried planting sugar but it proved too costly a venture.

In 1625 French and English colonist, who were early buccaneers, arrived on the island. First they lived on island of Hispaniola. They were constantly wandering from one location to another, until they finally found the Tortuga to be the safest place.

The French and English colonists started setting up plantations and populated the island in a short time. They were temporary expelled as a potential treat to Spaniards when Don Fabrique de Toledo attacked Tortuga in 1629. The encouraged army came back to Hispaniola, determined to root out every colonist, until not a single one remained. However, Spanish did not predict that scattered colonists would organize and return to the island and defeat small remains of Spanish force.

Pirates and wenches in Tortuga.

From 1630, the island of Tortuga was divided into French and English colonies. It provided a good base for buccaneers' attacks, as well as some other activities like slave trades. Tortuga saw two more successful Spanish raids in 1635 and 1638, and both times the buccaneers managed to regain goods.

In 1639, in order to finally establish decent defense, as the governor of nearby Saint Christopher sent help in the form of Jean Le Vasseur who was promoted to the new governor of Tortuga. He built the stone fortress "Fort de Rocher" on a highest rise of the island. It was enforced with 40 guns and overlooked any ships and vessels in or near the port.

Until 1665 Tortuga was temporarily captured by the Spanish one more time, and than the island became a part of Saint Dominique colony. The new governor, Bertrand D'ogeron had difficulties to convince the buccaneers to accept him. However, he managed to develop Tortuga even more by organizing people and strengthening its defense.

In following period, some of the greatest buccaneers such as Henry Morgan and Francois L'Ollonais launched attacks from Tortuga and became part of island history. From 1670, the most buccaneers found a new trade like log cutting and trading wood from the island, and many others continued their piracy on the ships of foreign nations. In 1684 a peace treaty was signed between France and Spain. Spain officially gave up Tortuga, as a part of Saint Dominique to France in 1697.

18th century

"You know Tortuga."
"I do. Port Royal has its charms, but it can't hold a candle to Tortuga."

―Esmeralda and Jack Sparrow

Captain James Sterling in Tortuga.

In 1701, a war erupted between France, Spain, Great Britain and Holland. Many pirates from Tortuga were employed by the French Royal Navy as privateers. When the war ended in 1713, many former privateers once again turned to piracy.

Although piracy was officially abolished on Tortuga by the Treaty of Utrecht, thanks to the local governor Tortuga remained a safe heaven for pirates, smugglers, and all sorts of outlaws. A dank and dirty port, Tortuga became a place where the tides seem to have swept together the sum of pirates, privateers, prostitutes, thieves, and drunkards. With its cantered, rotting docks, weatherbeaten buildings, and odd assortment of livestock running free (donkeys, chickens, etc.), Tortuga was far less civilized than Port Royal.

As he began his early adventures as a teenaged stowaway, Captain Jack Sparrow arrived at Tortuga one stormy night, searching for his stolen sack. But instead of his own sack, the young sailor took the sack of the infamous pirate Captain Torrents, which started a series of Sparrow's adventures around the Caribbean. Several years later, Sparrow came to Tortuga again, this time as captain of the Wicked Wench, an EITC merchant vessel which was raised from the sea floor by Davy Jones, the lord of the sea. Sparrow assembled a pirate crew in Tortuga, renamed his ship the Black Pearl, and sailed into new adventures. Around the same time, Captain James Sterling visited Tortuga.

Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner in Tortuga.

More than a decade later, Tortuga would still be the pirate heaven of the Caribbean, during which time Jack Sparrow assembled another crew, with the help of Joshamee Gibbs, for a voyage to Isla de Muerta. He also met up with two wenches, Giselle and Scarlett, whose acquaintance he had met previously and who were none best pleased to see him, giving him a slap each.

During the War of Jolly Roger, Roger's undead skeletons, led by general Hex, managed to occupy Tortuga Graveyard. Using their voodoo powers, they raised many dead inhabitants of Tortuga in an attempt to increase Roger's army. However, that was just a prelude to the full scale invasion led by Roger himself, which was repelled by buccaneers.

A year after the battle of the Isla de Muerta, Jack Sparrow and Gibbs would return to Tortuga to recruit more crewmen as souls to settle Sparrow's debt with Davy Jones.

Shortly after the battle of Calypso's maelstrom, the Black Pearl made port in Tortuga. Hector Barbossa led a mutiny and commandeered the ship from its rightful owner, Jack Sparrow. Several years later, after Barbossa gained complete captaincy over Blackbeard's infamous flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, he ordered the Revenge's crew to set sail for Tortuga.

Location

"And how do you intend to harvest these 99 souls in three days?"
"Fortunately he was mum as the condition in which these souls need be."
"Ah! Tortuga."
"Tortuga."

―Joshamee Gibbs and Jack Sparrow

Of all the pirate islands in the Caribbean, none was the equal of Tortuga. It was the dirtiest pirate port in all the Caribbean; a place for drunken pirates on the lookout for fresh risks and high adventure. Dangerous, boisterous, drunken, and bawdy, Tortuga is pirate heaven. Named by the Spanish after the turtle it resembled, the island lies to the north of Hispaniola. A small but fertile and densely populated island, Tortuga served as the ramshackle haven for pirates, rogues, scoundrels, outlaws and sailors in the Caribbean. It was the dirtiest port in all the Caribbean; a place for drunken pirates on the lookout for fresh risks and high adventure. A place where truth was hard to come by, Tortuga was a well-known haunt of Captain Jack Sparrow's. When someone like Sparrow goes off looking for a crew, they steer a course to this pirate port.

Behind the scenes

Overview

Tortuga first appeared in the 2003 junior novelization for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The name "island of Tortuga" was first used in the 2006 reference book Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide as well as the 2007 reprint The Complete Visual Guide, though "Island" was capitalized in the 2006 book Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm by Rob Kidd. Tortuga being named by the Spanish after the turtle it resembled and being located to the north of Hispaniola was detailed in the Visual Guide references books, as well as Pirates of the Caribbean Annual 2008 and the 2011 book The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook.

Scenes in Tortuga were filmed primarily in St. Vincent in the productions of The Curse of the Black Pearl as well as the back-to-back productions of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End.

Tortuga, as represented in The Curse of the Black Pearl, drew inspiration from scenes on Puerto Dorado in the original Disneyland ride. Elements from the ride include:

• Pirates shooting guns.
• The "Redhead" (Scarlett).
• A man drinking rum by the tap.
• The woman letting a man look up her skirt.
• A man (Scalawag) sleeping with the pigs.
• While not appearing in the film itself, the scene with the mayor being dunked in the well appeared in one of the deleted scenes, which later made it into Dead Man's Chest.

Video game

In video games, Tortuga appeared in most, including Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow Dead Man's Chest, At World's End, Pirates of the Caribbean Online, and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game.

Ambiguous canon

Tortuga was meant to appear in the graphic novel Pirates of the Caribbean: Six Sea Shanties and the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, which were both scheduled to be released in 2011. But, since both were cancelled, it is unknown if these appearances are canon or not.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm (First identified as Island of Tortuga)
• Jack Sparrow: The Siren Song (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: The Pirate Chase (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: The Age of Bronze (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Silver (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Sins of the Father (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Bold New Horizons (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: The Tale of Billy Turner and Other Stories
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
• The Price of Freedom
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Turning Tide (Mentioned only)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters (Mentioned only)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization)
  • Fluch der Karibik
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (comic)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Six Sea Shanties
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
• Revenge of the Pirates!
• Double Duel!
• In Jack We Trust!
• Going Overboard! (Mentioned only)
• The Treasure of Shipwreck Island!
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (comic)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization) (Special Edition version)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Mentioned only)

Non-canon appearances

• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
• Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life (Picture only)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide (First identified as island of Tortuga)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean Annual 2008
• The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook

External links

• Tortuga on Wikipedia

Notes and references

Locations in Pirates of the Caribbean
Africa Barbary Coast – Calabar – Egypt – Kerma – Slave Coast – Tripoli The Americas Boston – Florida – Louisiana – Mexico – New Orleans – North Carolina Panama – Peru – Savannah – Virginia – Yucatán Peninsula Asia Bombay – China – Hong Kong – India – Nippon – Shanghai – Singapore – Suvarnadurg The Bahamas Andros – Nassau – New Avalon – New Providence The Caribbean Antigua – Black rock island – Cuba – Devil's Triangle – Dominica – Guadeloupe – Hangman's Bay – Hispaniola Ile d'Etable de Porc – Isla De La Avaricia – Isla Cruces – Isla de Muerta – Isla de Pelegostos Martinique – Padres Del Fuego – Port Royal – Poseidon's Tomb Puerto Rico – Saint Martin – San Silvestre –Shipwreck Island – St. Lucia – Tortuga – Unnamed Island Europe Barcelona – Cádiz – France – Gibraltar – Great Britain – Holland London – Marseille – Paris – Portugal – Scotland – Seville – Spain – Other locations Davy Jones' Locker – Farthest Gate – Ice Passage – Isla Sirena
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