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Captain Kidd on His Ship

Captain William Kidd
(©Dover Publications)

In 1697, aboard his ship Adventure Galley, Kidd captured his largest prize ever—a richly loaded Moorish ship, The Quedah Merchant. Kidd assumed the ship was a legitimate prize. But when its French papers were not found, Kidd was put on trial in London for piracy and found guilty. His tarred body was hung along the Thames and left to rot—a grim warning of the fate that awaited pirates.