Amongst all the work going on with the 25-foot Launch, and getting her inner keel ready for lamination, and preparation for the pirate festival, I've been getting some questions about our representation of battles, skirmishes and combat in general - along with some criticism of how we do so.
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First, this is a job for our PR Director - so go bang down his door when you don't like my answers!
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The Blackbeard Festival in Hampton July 9-11 has been the underlying cause of most of these questions and criticism, so let me summarize. The festival commemorates the 1718 capture of Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, and his crew near Ocracoke, NC. It is a story stepped in folklore and popularized in the modern imagination by pirate movies. But the true story is much more complicated and interesting than any work of fiction I've read recently. Not only was Blackbeard a 'bad guy' - having captured and plundered dozens of ships and been responsible for countless deaths - but the colonial authorities that captured him were at best sloppy in their administration and accountability and at worst corrupt and self-serving. It reminds me of an 'Enemy at the Gates' type situation - where you're really not sure who to root for, the Nazis or the Communists. This happened - hell, still happens - more than our history books would like to admit or bring to light.
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Most criticism I receive revolves around the indignity of glamorizing piracy in an age when our sailors are still fighting them in several areas of the world. There are also a few that say that pretending to shoot at each other and fall down is silly and infantile. Hmmm. Both opinions are valid and agree with my own, but do not apply to what we're doing in Hampton.
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BT
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Our representation of the historical battles of 1718 is inherently flawed. We are using uniforms and equipment appropriate for 1770-1790, fifty years too late. Our boat is made of fiberglass, and her hull form is only appropriate back to the 1760's. We have short hair, we wear combat boots, our clothing is machine sewn, we brush our teeth and we use deodorant.
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So where do we claim to represent history? In the attitude of our participants during the event. In preparation, they'll be read brief passages describing historical procedures such as the press gang, naval enlistment, and civilian reports of the 'dastardly acts' of pirates. They'll also be given the same motivation as the original pirate hunters - rewards for capturing the pirates. Not to mention a summary of the benefits of looting the pirate's 'booty'. They'll be fully sold on the notion of working for the King (government, not me) as a potentially lucrative occupation. And even if we create these factors artificially, their representation may shed a little light on the truth behind the folklore, both for spectators and the participants themselves.
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The pirate crews, I might add, are even more up to speed on this than we are. While they admit that their principle income is derived from crime, they are quick to point out that theirs are fully democratic crews, with constitutions, elected leaders and equal shares of their plunder for all members. Bet not many people on the street would know that.
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So in both sides, there was good AND bad. See that for what it was, and you're starting to understand history and what we can learn from it.
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Aside from the passing of knowledge and learning is the DOING. Participants will be focused on what we are doing vice what we are wearing. I'm sure that the cut of a waistcoat was not high on the list of priorities for engaged combatants in the 18th century, just as it is not on ours. Sailors and marines alike will think TACTICALLY and do their best to use the limited resources and information at hand (satellite imagery wasn't a common asset in 1718). And to make the challenge all the more difficult, they'll have to capture the "pirates" - without actually hurting anyone - including spectators watching two feet away.
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Learning to use assets within their limitations, exploit the limitations of our opponent, exercising rapid operational risk management decisions on an individual and unit level - you can't tell me there is no professional development in this for our sailors and marines. From the rank and file to the leadership elements - this is not only a past time but a chance to hone skills learned in the military but little exercised in combat, or even mock-combat.
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And most importantly is a little laughter. Not only because it's in the blog title but because it is essential to ensure participants have FUN and therefore absorb information more effectively. The same is true for the public - when they're laughing they're paying attention. When they're yawning, they're zoning out just as they did in history class, which might be why they've never heard of Governor Spotswood, Lieutenant Maynard or Edward Teach. So you'll forgive the bad Monty Python jokes (last year it was from Quest for the Holy Grail: "you stay here until I come and get him"), the occasional raucous cheers and bad singing. But if even one spectator walks away saying "hey hon, did you know the navy used to do that? - just kidnap people off the street" then we've won.
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If anyone has any questions about the validity of learning about the history of piracy, many of our active duty sailors and marines have met REAL pirates face to face. Ask us.
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