In most cases a successful pirate attack depended on three things, surprise, speed, and terror. Surprise could be in a number of ways. The most common was to remain hidden in a creek or bay then suddenly emerge into the path of an unsuspecting merchantman. Another tactic was to find a victim at anchor, creep up unaware and attack at dawn. Occasionally pirates achieved surprise by disguising their ship and crew, and revealing their true identity only when it was too late for their prey to escape. Speed meant catching the enemy as quick as possible, carrying out the attack and disappearing before help could arrive. Terror was achieved by reputation and appearance (looking as frightening as possible). Pirates often committed acts of terrorism not out of sheer bloodthirstiness but to build up a fearsome reputation. This made future victims less likely to resist.ATTACK FROM THE STERN
An armed merchantman was most vulnerable when attacked from the bow or the stern, where the cannon could not be brought to use on the attackers. The pirates would approach the ship from the stern and shoot the crew who appeared on deck.
A skilled attacker shot through the ropes controlling the sails, so the vessel could not get underway. They then jammed the rudder and clambered aboard to take their prize.
PIRATE CRUELTY Not all pirates were cruel. Like keel hauling, the punishment of making a man walk the plank over a shark infested sea is mostly a myth. Piracy was a criminal activity and attracted its fair share of sadistic villains. There are stories of pirates setting fire to their victims, firing them from cannons, blinding them, cutting off their limbs, marooning them and worse. One pirate cut open his victims tied one end of their intestine to the ground and made them dance to pull out the rest of their of their gut.
