JUST like today, piracy was a major problem in the western Pacific 100 years ago. Mention pirates to most people, and they conjure images of Captain Jack Sparrow or Long John Silver, all pegleg and eye patch. In fact, thanks to movies and television, pirates have enjoyed a reputation of being cool and desirable.
But the reality is quite different. Pirates are cutthroat criminals, intent on taking whatever they can, and hurting anyone who gets in their way. Take the curious sinking of the Irene in 1927.
With the introduction of steam powered vessels, the Age of Sail came to a close and with it, the traditional tactics of the pirates. In the modern age, ships made of iron and propelled by engines instead of the wind could easily outrun and resist their attacks. If pirates wanted to stay in business they had to adapt.
By the 1920s, a new method was employed. Pirates booked passage aboard ships as harmless passengers and when the word was given the pirates sprang on the crew and took control of the vessel from within. No broadsides or boarding parties, just an internal hostile takeover.
To counter this new threat, the British, operating from their base in Singapore, tried using submarines for ani-piracy patrols. They would sit submerged in areas known for pirate attacks, then surface if there was a problem.
On the night of Oct. 19, 1927, a group of at least 18 Chinese pirates took control of the Irene, a medium-sized passenger freighter. The next morning, the British submarine L4 located the vessel and fired a shot from her four-inch deck gun across her bow as a warning. After receiving no response, the L4 fired directly at the ship in an attempt to disable her and started a fire in the process.
The Irene was mortally wounded as passengers and crew took to the lifeboats, with the pirates hidden among them. Several of the pirates stripped naked and lay drifting in a lifeboat, pretending to be victims and nearly pulled off the ruse until others identified them as criminals.
The British fought to put out the fires, which they did, but so much water was sprayed on the vessel that it wallowed overweight until it capsized and sank. Thankfully, most of Irene’s 258 passengers survived, and 17 Chinese were found guilty of piracy and hanged.
Today, pirates use many of the same methods. Sometimes they join a crew of a fishing vessel, then mutiny while on the high seas. Sometimes they board a ferry in large numbers, then overpower the crew. Incredibly, some, like the Somali pirates and those in the Gulf of Guinea, have resorted to old-school methods of attack from another boat with guns and rockets. But I have not seen any peglegs or eye patches in a while.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for 20 years. He currently resides on the mainland U.S.
BC Cook
