Only one man in British history has ever been knighted for services to combat piracy, but his name – unlike those of his adversaries – is practically unknown. In fact, Chaloner Ogle enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the Royal Navy, rising to become Admiral of the Fleet. His spectacular career coincided with the ‘golden age’ of piracy, when trade in the Atlantic and beyond was threatened by roving bands of sea-robbers. Following a series of incidents on the African coast, Ogle set his sights on one particular robber, Bartholomew Roberts, or ‘Black Bart’. The encounter that ensued is recorded in Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates, published in 1724. Struck by grapeshot, which ripped out his throat, Roberts was killed in an instant. Ogle, however, was denied the chance to capture the pirate when Roberts’s crew threw his corpse overboard. The body was never recovered. The crew, however, suff ered fates that befell many captured pirates: some were hanged, others were sentenced to indentured labour, practically a life sentence in itself. While the exact details of how the coconut cup at the centre of this publication came to be made are unknown, it is a tantalising link to this period of history. The object will be on display during a major new exhibition at the National Maritime Museum from spring 2025 to early 2026.

Robert Blyth is Senior Curator of World and Maritime History at the Royal Museums Greenwich.