The Raging Saint Mae
Duties -
Ship Drink - The Raging Undercurrent and the Widow's Kiss
Ship Toast - Go down with a little dignity
Ship Colors - Blue and Black
Current Roster - (16)
Ship's Head
Ship's Officers
Spitfire - Master Artisan Bosun
Standard Crew
Ship Awards
2007
- Treasure Hunt - 3rd Place
- Food Drive - 5th Place
Ship Story
The History of the Raging St. Mae
In 1608 the British navy produced its first single-timbered armed merchant vessel: The Sea Venture. With eight 9-pounder demiculverns, eight 5-pounder sakers, four 3-pounder falcons, and four arquebusses placed upon its main deck, the Sea Venture was truly a breed apart.
In June 1609 the Sea Venture set sail on its maiden voyage from Plymouth as the flagship of the Third Supply to Jamestown. It carried 150 passengers including Lord Admiral of the Fleet George Somers. A small dog took the ship total to 151. On 25 July a hurricane hit the fleet forcing the Sea Venture off course. The ship fought against the storm for three days with Admiral Somers himself at the helm. On 28 July Somers spotted the island of Bermuda and, persuaded by an ominous leak in the ships' hull, crashed it onto the reefs. All 150 passengers survived, as did the dog.
Shipwrecked and displaced from the fleet, Somers took the only logical course of action: he ordered the Sea Venture to be stripped of its timber and two ships to be built in its place. A few months later the ships were built and named: the Patience and the Deliverance. Once again they set sail for Jamestown, leaving only Somers and one of his crew to claim Bermuda for the Colony. Over the next 75 years the island would be given over to Somers and a small collection of capitalists (interested in the beautiful and profitable Bermuda cedar) and recruited by the East India Trading Company for its tobacco exports. And for 75 years the skeleton of the Sea Venture sat on the shore, patiently waiting for deliverance of its own.
Deliverance came in two forms: thieves and pirates. With the tobacco crop suddenly ailing, the Company attempted to "preserve Bermuda cedar" by banning the building of vessels on the island. It was at this time that three pirates, Captain Aramis, Captain Hawk and Captain Moon, appeared on the island in a small boat with only a half-full keg of rum and four boxes of tobacco. Known enemies of the East India Trading Company for smuggling tobacco (amongst other things), the Captains quickly explained to the merchants that their ships had sank (which was true, though they kept the details quiet) and that they needed transport to Tortuga to regroup. The merchants explained that there were no longer any ships but those of the Colony and the East India Trading Company, neither of which were appealing to the pirates. Then Captain Hawk saw the skeletal Sea Venture and, after much negotiating, the merchants agreed to help the Captains rebuild the ships in return for their boxes of tobacco.
On 28 July, 1684, 75 years to the day it had crashed, the Sea Venture left Bermuda. Upon arriving at Tortuga, it was decided that Captain Hawk would keep the ship while Captains Aramis and Moon would seek other accomodations. Under the guise of a merchant ship transporting salt the Sea Venture sailed the world and was eventually renamed The Raging St. Mae.
But that is a different story all together.
