Quedagh Merchant
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: |
|
| Owner: | Coirgi |
| Fate: | Sunk c1698 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 350 tons |
Quedagh Merchant (Armenian: Քեդահյան վաճառական), also known as the Cara Merchant and Adventure Prize, was an Indian merchant vessel, owned by a man named Coirgi.
The ship was captured by Scottish privateer, William "Captain" Kidd on 30 January 1698. After this ship's capture, Kidd attempted a return to New York to share in the treasure with the Governor of that colony, then on to England to pay off his backers.
The capture of Quedagh Merchant, as well as Rouparelle, caused scandal throughout the British empire, hurting Britain's safe trading status along the African and Indian coasts. Although Kidd felt that both of these captures were legal, and following his commission by his Lords, word spread quickly that Captain Kidd was a pirate. Kidd was later imprisoned and ultimately executed for alleged acts of piracy, as well as murder.
The fate of Quedagh Merchant rested in the hands of merchants hired by Captain Kidd to guard the ship and await his arrival back into the Caribbean in three months time. During Kidd's long imprisonment in New York and later in England, New York Governor Lord Richard Bellomont, attempted to extract a confession for the location of the ship, which was left anchored in a lagoon along Santa Catalina. When word reached New York that the merchants had sold off most of the goods, burned the ship, and sailed to Holland, Lord Bellomont sent a ship to verify that it had indeed been burned. The exact location of the remains of Quedagh Merchant were a mystery, until they were discovered off the coast of Catalina Island, Dominican Republic, in December 2007.
In April 1696, a group of Armenian merchants hired the 350-ton Quedagh Merchant, owned by an Indian man named Coirgi. Operating out of Surat in north-western India, the Armenians were assisted by Augun Peree Callendar, a local English East India Company representative who freelanced to help supplement his income. For the voyage, the ship was captained by John Wright, had two Dutch first mates, a French gunner, more than 90 Indian crewmen, and 30 Armenian merchants.
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