WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.759 Welcome to another deep dive. Pull up a chair 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:04.919 because we are just thrilled to have you here 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:06.879 with us today. Yeah, absolutely. You are the 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:08.939 crucial third mind in this room with us. And 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:12.939 today we've got a really fascinating stack of 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:16.890 notes. historical records, and a wonderfully 00:00:16.890 --> 00:00:19.429 specific Wikipedia article to share with you. 00:00:19.570 --> 00:00:22.429 It is remarkably specific. It really is. Our 00:00:22.429 --> 00:00:24.629 source material today details the history of 00:00:24.629 --> 00:00:27.230 a wildly popular ship name between the years 00:00:27.230 --> 00:00:31.989 1760 and 1814, and that name is Poisson Volant. 00:00:32.130 --> 00:00:34.789 Right. Which, for those of us who might be a 00:00:34.789 --> 00:00:37.289 little rusty on our French, translates to flying 00:00:37.289 --> 00:00:39.549 fish. It sounds quite poetic on the surface, 00:00:39.689 --> 00:00:42.869 honestly. It kind of does. Peering into the geopolitical 00:00:42.869 --> 00:00:45.049 landscape of this era paints a much grittier 00:00:45.049 --> 00:00:47.109 picture. I mean, I'm currently looking at an 00:00:47.109 --> 00:00:50.109 old naval map of the Caribbean and the English 00:00:50.109 --> 00:00:52.289 Channel to just sort of ground us. Set the scene 00:00:52.289 --> 00:00:54.679 for us a bit. Well, during this period, the oceans 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:57.020 are highly contested. You had British Royal Navy 00:00:57.020 --> 00:00:59.079 ships constantly intercepting French vessels. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.240 But these weren't just official naval warships 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:03.219 squaring off in, you know, formal coordinated 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:06.040 battles. Right. It wasn't just huge lines of 00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:08.599 ships firing at each other. Exactly. The oceans 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:10.920 were absolutely swarming with privately funded 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:13.450 vessels known as privateers. And for reasons 00:01:13.450 --> 00:01:16.290 that almost defy statistical probability, Poisson 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:18.709 -Vallant was an incredibly common name for these 00:01:18.709 --> 00:01:20.989 privately funded French ships. Okay, let's unpack 00:01:20.989 --> 00:01:24.390 this because the sheer absurdity of how often 00:01:24.390 --> 00:01:27.189 this specific name pops up in the naval records 00:01:27.189 --> 00:01:30.209 is just mind -boggling. It really is. It's like 00:01:30.209 --> 00:01:33.430 looking at a modern phone book and trying to 00:01:33.430 --> 00:01:37.409 find a John Smith, except, well... Except John 00:01:37.409 --> 00:01:40.430 Smith is a heavily armed sailing vessel trying 00:01:40.430 --> 00:01:43.109 to steal your cargo. Right. And you're just constantly 00:01:43.109 --> 00:01:44.870 bumping into him in the middle of the ocean. 00:01:45.030 --> 00:01:47.590 The records show the British capturing Poisson 00:01:47.590 --> 00:01:50.349 Valence across completely different decades and 00:01:50.349 --> 00:01:52.609 totally different oceans. That's wild. To give 00:01:52.609 --> 00:01:54.829 you a sense of the frequency, we can look at 00:01:54.829 --> 00:01:58.010 a detail from early 1797 involving the British 00:01:58.010 --> 00:02:01.790 ship HMS Magician. Okay. On January 13th of that 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:04.230 year, they captured Poisson Valence. And the 00:02:04.230 --> 00:02:06.750 logs indicate this was a formidable vessel. It 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:09.349 was armed with 12 guns and carrying a crew of 00:02:09.349 --> 00:02:13.930 80 men. So a serious threat. Very serious. The 00:02:13.930 --> 00:02:16.150 British crew secured the prize and continued 00:02:16.150 --> 00:02:19.870 their patrol. But then, just a month later, on 00:02:19.870 --> 00:02:22.810 February 16th. Barely four weeks later. Exactly. 00:02:23.090 --> 00:02:25.710 That exact same British ship captured another 00:02:25.710 --> 00:02:28.409 vessel. Let me guess the name. Its name was also 00:02:28.409 --> 00:02:31.069 Poisson Volant. You cannot make that up. The 00:02:31.069 --> 00:02:33.639 second vessel was slightly smaller, though. armed 00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:36.340 with five guns and a crew of 50 men. I just try 00:02:36.340 --> 00:02:38.360 to imagine being the British captain writing 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:40.479 that logbook. You really have to wonder if they 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:42.139 thought they were caught in some sort of maritime 00:02:42.139 --> 00:02:45.060 time loop. What's fascinating here is a detail 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:47.400 from a later account regarding that second capture. 00:02:47.979 --> 00:02:51.180 That second Poisson Volant was not even French. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.560 Wait, really? No, it was a Dutch privateer operating 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:57.479 out of Curacao. Oh, wow. The British sent her 00:02:57.479 --> 00:02:59.919 into Jamaica to be legally condemned as a prize. 00:03:00.699 --> 00:03:02.639 But think about what that shows us regarding 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.300 the massive scale of privateering at the time. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:08.960 Right. This specific name, Flying Rush. was so 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:11.280 overwhelmingly popular across different nations 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:13.360 and different island colonies that the British 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:15.159 were practically tripping over them in the Caribbean. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:17.939 Tripping over flying fishes. Exactly. Yeah. It 00:03:17.939 --> 00:03:19.719 had essentially become a pan -national brand 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.300 for maritime opportunists. A brand for maritime 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:24.500 opportunists. That is the perfect way to frame 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:27.259 it. And speaking of opportunists, this leads 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:29.639 us perfectly into what we can really only describe 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.379 as the 18th century gig economy. The side hustles 00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:35.759 of a high seat. Exactly. I was looking through 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:43.319 the notes at a capture from July. Ah, yes. The 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:46.500 vessel commanded by Captain Letart. He was commanding 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:49.099 a four -gun vessel operating under letter of 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:51.409 marquee. That's the one. And the detail that 00:03:51.409 --> 00:03:54.409 stands out for you listening at home is Letart's 00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:57.250 actual business model. It's so pragmatic. He 00:03:57.250 --> 00:03:59.069 wasn't just out there hunting ships full time. 00:03:59.229 --> 00:04:01.789 He was sailing from Bordeaux to Guadeloupe, and 00:04:01.789 --> 00:04:04.229 his hold was packed with a cargo of wines and 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:06.509 merchandise. He was a merchant first. Right. 00:04:06.629 --> 00:04:08.969 His privateering was entirely a side hustle. 00:04:09.090 --> 00:04:11.009 He planned to act as a standard delivery merchant, 00:04:11.250 --> 00:04:13.949 drop off his wine cargo in the Caribbean, and 00:04:13.949 --> 00:04:16.529 then use his empty ship to cruise the West Indies 00:04:16.529 --> 00:04:19.560 as a privateer. Maximize the trip. He was basically 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:23.139 driving for an 18th century delivery app, but 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:25.480 with cannons in the trunk just in case he saw 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:27.980 a competitor on the route. A delivery app where 00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:30.319 the driver might face a broadside from a heavily 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.939 armed frigate if they miscalculate their route. 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:35.660 Yeah, slightly higher stakes than missing a turn. 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:38.759 Just a bit. But it's vital to understand the 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:42.019 economics of the era to grasp why LaTarte would 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:45.439 even risk this. Privateering was not aimless 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.160 piracy. That's a really important distinction. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:51.199 It is. Pirates were outlaws who attacked anyone, 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:54.500 and they could be hanged by any nation. A letter 00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:56.620 of marque, however, was a government license. 00:04:56.920 --> 00:05:00.019 It authorized a private person to attack and 00:05:00.019 --> 00:05:02.500 capture enemy vessels during wartime. So it was 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:05.120 legal. Entirely legal under their nation's laws. 00:05:05.379 --> 00:05:07.819 It was a highly calculated business venture for 00:05:07.819 --> 00:05:10.839 investors and captains alike. Letart was simply 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:13.060 hedging his financial bets. Dark guy. He had 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:15.180 guaranteed income from the wine delivery and 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:18.180 the potential for a massive lottery -level payout 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:20.300 from capturing an enemy ship. And the British 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:22.579 captains were fully aware of how dangerous this 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:25.019 hybrid model was, right? Oh, absolutely. Captain 00:05:25.019 --> 00:05:27.139 Roberts of the Concorde actually admitted in 00:05:27.139 --> 00:05:30.000 his official report that Letart's ship was incredibly 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.639 fast in light winds. He specifically noted that 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:35.399 if they had not caught him early... Which only 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:37.579 happened because the fog cleared at exactly the 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.720 right time. Right. Sheer luck. But Roberts noted 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:43.000 that if they hadn't caught him, this particular 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.560 Poisson Volant could have done considerable mischief. 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:48.519 And considerable mischief usually meant devastating 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:51.279 the local supply lines and driving up the cost 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:54.259 of goods for entire colonies. It's a huge economic 00:05:54.259 --> 00:05:57.399 threat. It is. Letart was a professional with 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.279 a sizable ship, but the economic incentives of 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:02.519 privateering drew in a much wider demographic. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:04.920 You see a lot of amateurs trying to get a piece 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:07.579 of the pie. Right, the gold rush mentality. Consider 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:09.860 the capture from just a month prior to Letart 00:06:09.860 --> 00:06:13.779 in June 1797 by a revenue cutter named Lively. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.839 The logs note they captured a Poisson Valant 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:19.459 out of Nantes, three days out of Morlaix. Okay. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.160 This vessel was remarkably small. It was only 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:25.360 12 tons berthen, armed with just two swivel guns, 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:28.120 and carried a crew of 25 men. I have to pause 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:30.259 you there because we need to translate some of 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:33.000 this 18th century nautical terminology for everyone. 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:37.660 When you say 12 tons berthen, how big of a boat 00:06:37.660 --> 00:06:39.980 are we actually talking about? Good question. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:43.079 Berthen is an old measurement of cargo carrying 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:45.759 capacity, not the physical weight of the ship 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:49.740 itself. Okay. A 12 -ton berthen vessel is roughly 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:52.600 the size of a modern, medium -sized moving truck. 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:55.959 A moving truck? Yes. It's not a warship. It's 00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:58.800 a coastal boat. And a swivel gun is essentially 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:01.259 a small cannon, sometimes resembling a large 00:07:01.259 --> 00:07:04.519 shotgun, mounted on a pivot rail. So not exactly 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:07.060 ship -sinking artillery. No, it's designed for 00:07:07.060 --> 00:07:09.100 anti -personnel defense, not for sinking other 00:07:09.100 --> 00:07:11.019 ships. Put yourself in the shoes of those 25 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:13.300 sailors. You are crammed into a tiny boat the 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:15.579 size of a moving truck, with barely enough room 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:17.899 to breathe, let alone sleep. You have been miserable. 00:07:18.139 --> 00:07:20.100 You are armed with what amounts to two large 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:22.560 shotguns, and you are sailing out into a heavily 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:25.860 patrolled war zone against actual warships. Desperate 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:27.980 people taking desperate risks. The allure of 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:30.579 that prize money must have been a literal maritime 00:07:30.579 --> 00:07:33.490 gold rush. to make that risk seem worthwhile. 00:07:33.970 --> 00:07:36.689 Well, the Customs Service official, Mr. DuBois 00:07:36.689 --> 00:07:39.529 Smith, dutifully noted in his report that this 00:07:39.529 --> 00:07:43.110 tiny little boat had taken zero prizes. Not entirely 00:07:43.110 --> 00:07:45.389 surprising. The reality of the ocean quickly 00:07:45.389 --> 00:07:47.949 caught up with their ambitions. The prize money 00:07:47.949 --> 00:07:51.160 could set a poor sailor up for life, sure. But 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:53.259 the low barrier to entry meant people were heading 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:56.339 out to sea severely under -equipped. Here's where 00:07:56.339 --> 00:07:58.579 it gets really interesting, because even the 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:01.279 well -equipped ships found themselves in situations 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:04.279 of absolute desperation. Oh, the Trent Chase. 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:08.439 Yes. The notes detail a chase on June 27, 1797 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:12.319 by HMS Trent. They were 10 leagues east of Yarmouth 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:14.660 when they spotted a French privateer lugger. 00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:17.160 A lugger being a small, fast -sailing ship with 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:20.470 multiple masts and four -cornered sails. specifically 00:08:20.470 --> 00:08:22.970 built for speed over firepower. And 10 leagues 00:08:22.970 --> 00:08:25.589 puts them roughly 30 miles off the coast. Exactly. 00:08:25.610 --> 00:08:27.990 The ship they spotted was brand new, only 18 00:08:27.990 --> 00:08:31.230 days out of Hof de Gries. And its name, you guessed 00:08:31.230 --> 00:08:34.259 it, was Poisson Volant. HMS Trent, which is a 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:37.799 massive British warship, gives chase. The French 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:40.039 crew realizes their lugger is being outpaced. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:43.379 So in a sheer act of desperation to lose weight 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:47.059 and gain speed, the French crew physically heaves 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:50.220 their 14 cannons overboard into the ocean. Such 00:08:50.220 --> 00:08:52.179 an extreme measure. I want us to think about 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:54.740 the physical reality of that for a second. Cannons 00:08:54.740 --> 00:08:57.039 weigh thousands of pounds. Moving them across 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:59.340 a pitching wooden deck while being fired upon 00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:02.149 by a pursuing warship is incredible. dangerous. 00:09:02.730 --> 00:09:04.970 It's frankly a miracle they didn't sink their 00:09:04.970 --> 00:09:08.049 own ship doing it. But it also represents a catastrophic 00:09:08.049 --> 00:09:10.690 loss of capital for the venture capitalists who 00:09:10.690 --> 00:09:12.690 funded that privateer. Right, because someone 00:09:12.690 --> 00:09:15.450 back in France paid for those guns. Cannons were 00:09:15.450 --> 00:09:17.190 some of the most expensive pieces of equipment 00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:19.950 on any vessel. Throwing them overboard is the 00:09:19.950 --> 00:09:22.509 18th century equivalent of a modern tech startup 00:09:22.509 --> 00:09:25.129 burning all of its servers just to outrun a competitor. 00:09:25.330 --> 00:09:27.809 That is such a great analogy. But there is a 00:09:27.809 --> 00:09:31.090 crucial operational fact hidden in the data of 00:09:31.149 --> 00:09:34.149 this specific capture. When the British finally 00:09:34.149 --> 00:09:36.870 boarded the vessel, they counted a crew of 50 00:09:36.870 --> 00:09:40.090 men. The logs, however, indicate that 28 men 00:09:40.090 --> 00:09:43.110 from the original crew were missing. They clearly 00:09:43.110 --> 00:09:45.090 didn't jump overboard with the cannon, so where 00:09:45.090 --> 00:09:48.049 did half the crew go? This illustrates the mechanical 00:09:48.049 --> 00:09:51.309 reality of the privateering business. Those 28 00:09:51.309 --> 00:09:54.330 men were away sailing a brig and a ship that 00:09:54.330 --> 00:09:56.690 the Poisson Volant had already captured as prizes 00:09:56.690 --> 00:09:59.509 off a place called Buckiness a few days earlier. 00:09:59.730 --> 00:10:02.039 Oh, I see. When a privateer captured a merchant 00:10:02.039 --> 00:10:03.659 ship, they couldn't just tow it behind them. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:06.179 They had to divide their own crew, putting a 00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:08.679 prize crew aboard the captured vessel to physically 00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:11.000 navigate it back to a friendly port where it 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:13.379 could be legally processed and sold. So their 00:10:13.379 --> 00:10:16.059 success actively made them weaker. Precisely. 00:10:16.059 --> 00:10:18.399 They achieved their exact business goal, capturing 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:20.460 two ships. But it meant they were sailing around 00:10:20.460 --> 00:10:22.580 an active war zone with less than half their 00:10:22.580 --> 00:10:25.159 crew. Right. By the time HMS Trent found them, 00:10:25.220 --> 00:10:26.940 they barely had enough men left to handle the 00:10:26.940 --> 00:10:29.480 sails, which perfectly explains why they had 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:31.460 to resort to dumping their expensive cannons. 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:35.559 It forced a constant balancing act. If you succeeded 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:38.500 too much you paradoxically made yourself vulnerable 00:10:38.500 --> 00:10:40.960 to the next British warship that sailed over 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:44.090 the horizon. The gig economy bites back. And 00:10:44.090 --> 00:10:46.169 we must impartially observe the grim reality 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:48.830 underlying these operational mechanics. This 00:10:48.830 --> 00:10:51.909 was a lethal geopolitical conflict. And sailors 00:10:51.909 --> 00:10:55.009 on both sides were dying for the economic ambitions 00:10:55.009 --> 00:10:57.129 of their respective nations. It wasn't just a 00:10:57.129 --> 00:10:59.950 game of tag on the water. No, not at all. A clear 00:10:59.950 --> 00:11:03.490 example is the capture in April 1801 by the hired 00:11:03.490 --> 00:11:08.059 armed cutter stag off Beachy Head. Ah, yes. They 00:11:08.059 --> 00:11:11.440 chased down a 14 -gun lugger, Poisson Volant, 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:13.899 out of Boulogne, commanded by citizen Jacques 00:11:13.899 --> 00:11:16.379 -Antoine Head. He was only four days out of Dieppe. 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:18.340 And unlike the vessel that threw its guns overboard, 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.100 Captain Head's crew engaged in a firefight. They 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:23.919 fought back. They did. Before finally surrendering, 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:26.220 two of his men were killed and four were wounded. 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:28.740 The historical records show that on a previous 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:32.120 cruise, this single ship had successfully captured 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:34.700 six different vessels. Six vessels. That's a 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:37.500 hugely successful cruise. It was, though four 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:39.539 of those six were eventually recaptured by the 00:11:39.539 --> 00:11:43.919 British. But the human casualties highlight the 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.460 severe stakes behind the bureaucratic veneer 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:49.580 of letters of mark and prize courts. It grounds 00:11:49.580 --> 00:11:52.440 the history for us. Behind every logbook entry 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:54.960 about a captured ship, there were terrified sailors 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.740 fighting for their lives. Exactly. Which honestly 00:11:57.740 --> 00:11:59.940 makes the administrative bureaucracy of this 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:02.159 era all the more jarring. It brings us to the 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:04.539 great maritime recycling bin. The life cycle 00:12:04.539 --> 00:12:07.000 of these vessels. The life cycle is almost comical 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.179 in its efficiency. It is a remarkable economic 00:12:09.179 --> 00:12:13.639 loop. Let's look at April 4th, 1797. HMS Tamar, 00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:16.500 commanded by Sir Thomas Byam Martin, is escorting 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:19.299 a convoy from Barbados to Martinique. Standard 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:22.039 escort duty. They encounter a four -gun French 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:24.980 privateer named Poisson Voulant out of Guadeloupe. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.120 They capture it. But Captain Martin realizes 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:30.500 he recognizes the ship. He does. He had actually 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:32.759 captured this exact same vessel earlier that 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:35.500 very same year. To understand how a captain captures 00:12:35.500 --> 00:12:37.679 the exact same ship twice in a matter of months, 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:40.399 I want you to trace the journey of this single 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.679 hull of wood and canvas. Walk us through it. 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:45.320 So the British capture the ship the first time. 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:47.379 They don't sink it. They send her into a port 00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:50.840 like Antigua. There, a vice admiralty court holds 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:54.320 a hearing. to legally condemn the ship of a legitimate 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:56.940 prize of war. Which is fascinating in itself. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.100 It wasn't just finders keepers. They had a whole 00:12:59.100 --> 00:13:01.740 judicial process to ensure the crown got its 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:04.379 cut and that the capture didn't violate international 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:07.480 treaties. Precisely. Once legally condemned, 00:13:07.740 --> 00:13:10.179 the ship becomes British property. It is then 00:13:10.179 --> 00:13:13.360 put up for public auction. The buyer, often a 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.919 merchant, sails it to a neutral island in the 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:17.840 Caribbean. Okay, so it leaves British hands. 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:21.149 Right. At this neutral port, a company of speculators 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:23.309 operates. These were essentially the venture 00:13:23.309 --> 00:13:25.909 capitalists of the 18th century, actively looking 00:13:25.909 --> 00:13:28.509 for cheap naval assets. Asset flippers. Exactly. 00:13:28.730 --> 00:13:31.110 They buy the ship. Take her back to the French 00:13:31.110 --> 00:13:33.590 colony of Guadeloupe, apply for a brand new letter 00:13:33.590 --> 00:13:36.090 of marque, recommission her as a French privateer, 00:13:36.230 --> 00:13:39.110 name her Poisson Volant, and send her back out 00:13:39.110 --> 00:13:41.450 to sea. Where she promptly runs right back into 00:13:41.450 --> 00:13:43.830 Captain Martin. Right into him. Who gets to capture 00:13:43.830 --> 00:13:46.429 her, sell her, and collect the prize money all 00:13:46.429 --> 00:13:49.190 over again. They were legally processing these 00:13:49.190 --> 00:13:51.529 ships, flipping them for cash, and sending them 00:13:51.529 --> 00:13:54.909 back into the war zone. It is the ultimate recycled 00:13:54.909 --> 00:13:58.169 asset. The fluidity of maritime assets in this 00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:01.940 period was total. A ship was just a tool. holding 00:14:01.940 --> 00:14:04.720 no inherent national loyalty. If you captured 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:07.059 it, you simply put it to work against its former 00:14:07.059 --> 00:14:09.700 owners. And sometimes that lack of loyalty got 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:12.700 completely lost in translation. Oh, the Bonnetta 00:14:12.700 --> 00:14:15.000 capture. My absolute favorite detail from your 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.600 notes is from May 4th, 1796. The British ships 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:21.700 HMS Esperance and HMS Bonnetta are sailing when 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.019 they chase down a schooner named Poisson -Voulant, 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:27.080 heading from O 'Kays to New York. A classic pursuit. 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:29.440 The French crew tries all the desperate measures. 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:31.539 They throw their cannons over. board, they even 00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:34.019 cut down their gunnels to lose weight. The gunnels 00:14:34.019 --> 00:14:36.279 being the upper edge of the ship's side. Cutting 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:39.019 them away reduces weight, sure, but it drastically 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:41.419 reduces the structural integrity of the vessel 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.139 in rough seas. They basically destroy their own 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:46.159 ship trying to escape, but they get caught anyway. 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:48.679 And when the British board the ship, they realize 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.139 the architecture isn't French. Not French at 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:53.159 all. It was actually the former British ship, 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:56.139 HMS Flying Fish. The French had captured it a 00:14:56.139 --> 00:14:59.580 year earlier, in June 1795, while she was on 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:01.480 her way to Jamaica. And instead of coming up 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:03.740 with a new name, the French captors literally 00:15:03.740 --> 00:15:07.279 just translated Flying Fish into French and painted 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.139 Poisson Volant on the side. It perfectly encapsulates 00:15:10.139 --> 00:15:12.700 the pragmatic nature of the era. The British 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:15.259 reclaimed their ship, bearing its newly translated 00:15:15.259 --> 00:15:18.539 French name. The ultimate bookend to this recycling 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:22.639 narrative happens in mid -1803. Captain Banton's 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.600 squadron captures an American -built, 12 -gun 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.320 French privateer. Also named Poisson -Vallon. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.039 Her name was Poisson -Vallon. But the British 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:33.600 decide not to auction this one off. They commission 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:36.299 her directly into the Royal Navy. And what do 00:15:36.299 --> 00:15:38.639 they name her? HMS Flying Fish. HMS Flying Fish. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:40.820 They just translated it back. American built, 00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:43.740 French operated, British commissioned. A single 00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:45.980 physical object representing three different 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:48.879 global powers in rapid succession. So what does 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:51.779 this all mean? We have this massive list of captures, 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:56.039 small 12 -ton boats and large 14 gun luggers, 00:15:56.059 --> 00:15:58.519 all bouncing back and forth across the ocean, 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:02.100 changing flags like people change coats. If we 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:04.649 connect this to the bigger picture. It forces 00:16:04.649 --> 00:16:07.269 you to completely rethink how historical conflicts 00:16:07.269 --> 00:16:10.750 operated. History is frequently taught as a rigid 00:16:10.750 --> 00:16:14.450 binary. Side A versus side B. Good guys and bad 00:16:14.450 --> 00:16:17.309 guys. Right. But the reality of the 18th and 00:16:17.309 --> 00:16:20.129 19th century maritime world was an incredibly 00:16:20.129 --> 00:16:22.990 messy, pragmatic web. It was driven entirely 00:16:22.990 --> 00:16:25.210 by economics. It always comes back to the money. 00:16:25.350 --> 00:16:28.059 It does. Venture capitalists waiting at neutral 00:16:28.059 --> 00:16:30.980 ports to flip captured assets. The constant recycling 00:16:30.980 --> 00:16:33.679 of ships through vice admiralty courts and shifting 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:36.139 legal definitions created an environment where 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:38.440 a single piece of wood and canvas could be legally 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:41.620 British, then French, then American or Dutch, 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:43.720 all within a matter of months. I want you to 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:45.340 remember this the next time you feel overwhelmed 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:47.360 reading about the complexities of modern global 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:49.399 supply chains or the instability of the modern 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:51.759 gig economy. It's nothing new. Think about Captain 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:54.299 Letart trying to safely deliver his cargo of 00:16:54.299 --> 00:16:57.039 wine while moonlighting as a heavily armed privateer. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:00.480 Or think about those speculators in neutral ports 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.799 buying up captured ships to fuel the war machine 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:06.519 for profit. The hustle never changes. Exactly. 00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:09.220 The hustle, the side gigs and the exploitation 00:17:09.220 --> 00:17:12.380 of international legal loopholes are hundreds 00:17:12.380 --> 00:17:14.920 of years old. It provides a sobering historical 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:18.339 perspective and leaves us with one final. perhaps 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:21.119 deeper concept for you to ponder as we conclude 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:23.700 our analysis of these records. What's that? Well, 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:25.500 we have talked entirely about the ships changing 00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:28.539 hands, changing names, and changing flags. But 00:17:28.539 --> 00:17:31.000 what about the men on board? The actual sailors? 00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:33.619 In a world where your ship changes its nationality 00:17:33.619 --> 00:17:36.079 every few months, what did that do to the psychological 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:38.640 identity and loyalty of the individual sailors? 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:42.559 Their very survival depended on a piece of paper, 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:45.099 a letter of their bark. that could instantly 00:17:45.099 --> 00:17:47.519 turn them from a legitimate businessman into 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:49.740 a criminal of the sea. Just depending on whose 00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:52.440 warship was looking through the spyglass. Entirely 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.039 depending on that. It is a profound cushion of 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:58.099 human identity in an intensely fluid and dangerous 00:17:58.099 --> 00:18:00.920 world. A piece of paper that defines whether 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:03.920 you are a wealthy merchant or a pirate destined 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.680 for the gallows. Thank you for joining us in 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:08.839 the room today. We hope you enjoyed diving into 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.500 the chaotic, recycled world of the Poisson Volant 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:13.920 as much as we did. Keep questioning the history 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:15.619 you read, and we will see you next time.