Diableta: The Navy’s Forgotten Pirate Boat

By Jeremiah D. Foster, Historian, NHHC

Discussions of piracy, particularly in the Atlantic world, are generally relegated to the legendary Golden Age of Piracy, a period that lasted from approximately 1650 to 1730. While certainly iconic, this period was actually just one of several episodes of piracy that plagued Atlantic waters well into the first quarter of the 19th century. Generally, the appearance of these maritime marauders coincided with the evolving landscape of empire in the Americas.

In the early 1820s, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea experienced a particularly acute episode of piratical depredations, which attended the unraveling of Spanish hegemony in the region. Consequently, in 1822, the United States—then only an emergent power in the area—established a naval squadron to combat the issue. However, after a year of diplomatic endeavors and a display of high seas dominance, the U.S. Navy’s efforts met with only limited success.

After acquiring additional funding from Congress, the Navy Department placed Commodore David Porter in command of the West Indies Squadron and charged him with organizing a select flotilla of shallow draft schooners and small boats that could provide a strategic and tactical advantage in rooting out the pirates at their source. Porter got under way for the Caribbean with this so-called Mosquito Fleet in February 1823 and shortly thereafter established a naval depot at Allenton, Thompson’s Island [Key West]. The ships and small boats of the Mosquito

Fleet were then deployed to various patrol zones—scouring the shores, harbors, and rivers of Cuba—hunting pirates in the shallows and destroying their encampments on shore. As the Mosquito Fleet set about its work in early April 1823, one of these patrols, consisting of the shallow draft schooners Fox and Jackal and the (noncommissioned) cutters Gallinipper and Mosquito, set out to Although no illustrations of examine part of Cuba’s northern coastline. Diableta are known to exist, On the morning of the 16th, this division this artistic representation of ships, sailing under the overall command of a 19th-century felucca is of Master Commandant Stephen Cassin, likely similar in appearance. This drawing is extracted from a depiction of various naval vessels contained in arrived in an unnamed harbor, which was reportedly frequented by pirates. Just minutes after the division’s arrival, Iconographic Encyclopedia, the lateen sails of a felucca appeared on the Vol. III. (U.S. Naval History horizon, seemingly standing out for the and Heritage Command Gallinipper. Perhaps spotting the other larger Photograph NH 71069). warships, the crew of the felucca frantically hauled down the boat’s sails and pulled around the point of a nearby islet. Meanwhile, the U.S. boats jumped into action with both the Gallinipper and Mosquito setting off in pursuit. Master Cmdt. Cassin personally inspected the captured felucca and later reported to Commodore Porter that “she is a fine boat, coppered, pulls sixteen sweeps, and is in every respect, equal to any of our barges.” Cassin’s force brought off the boat, commandeering her for service with the squadron’s Mosquito Fleet cutters, and eventually bestowed on her the name Diableta. Of course, like the cutters, she too was never formally commissioned. While

A map of the West Indies. From Stanford’s 1898 Map of the United States (Eastern Part) and Cuba with the Central and South American Republics Bordering on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea Showing the Dependencies of the West Indies. (Located in the War Department Map Collection, 1939 – 1942; Record Group 77: Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, 1789 – 1999; National Archives Identifier 77452261, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.)

Diableta

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the exact reasons for her being named the Diableta are not entirely known, it is possible that she was named for a rather infamous pirate in the region named “Diableto” whom the West Indies Squadron spent some considerable time attempting to capture. In Spanish the word diablita translates to “little she-devil.”

The Diableta arrived at Thompson’s Island on April 28, 1823, with the rest of Master Cmdt. Cassin’s division, and the boat was subsequently fitted out for service. Next to the Gallinipper and Mosquito, Diableta came to be one of the squadron’s most heavily utilized small boats, and during the course of the next two years she participated in monthly patrols, scouring the coasts of Cuba in search of pirates. These patrols, which were conducted by all the Mosquito Fleet boats, were exceedingly perilous. Their crews navigated dangerous waters and experienced long periods of exposure with only limited supplies—all the while standing ready to do battle at a moment’s notice. Despite such challenges, these small boat patrols were enormously successful and contributed to the near total suppression of piracy in the waters off Cuba.

On January 17, 1825, Commodore Porter dispatched Lt. George F. Pearson (commanding the Diableta) and Lt. Benjamin S. Grimke (commanding the Gallinipper) to conduct a patrol inside the Colorados Reef for a cruise of between 15 and 28 days. The patrol concluded without incident off Cape San Antonio, Cuba, on February 9, and both boats then shaped a course for Thompson’s Island.

Despite enjoying good weather for most of the first day, at approximately 9 p.m. on the night of the 9th, the seas became increasingly heavy, and both boats were nearly swamped. At Lt. Grimke’s prompting (via lantern signal), the two boats hove to and continued on in that position into the early morning hours. Just after 1 a.m., the two boats lost sight of each other’s lanterns and became permanently separated.

The Gallinipper eventually made it back to Thompson’s Island, but the Diableta was pushed further out to sea. At daybreak on the 10th, she stood to the northeast but then began battling increasingly high seas, which significantly damaged her sails. Lt. Pearson did his best to keep the Diableta by the wind and pressed on with the hope of making it to the Marquesas Keys or the Dry Tortugas.

As of the morning of the 11th, Lt. Pearson and his crew of 15 remained out of sight of land. Convinced that they were somewhere north of the Keys, Pearson hauled the Diableta to the east. Unfavorable winds, however, continued to impede the boat’s progress, and after several days the weather began showing signs of a looming gale. With their provisions exhausted and facing the prospect of a gale, Pearson took advantage of a fair wind and proceeded along the coast of Florida. The Diableta and her crew then took shelter among some islets off the coast and procured some birds and a few fish, which sustained them for several days. Recognizing that supplies and new sails would be needed to return to Allenton, Pearson continued along the coast hoping to locate Pensacola, Florida.

On the 19th, after having been three days without food, the crew of the Diableta encountered a bout of heavy rain and howling winds, which destroyed the boat’s sails. With few options left for navigating her, Lt. Pearson and his

A watercolor drawing titled “USS Gallinipper and USS Mosquito Destroy Pirates, April 1823.” The work is an artistic interpretation of Gallinipper and Mosquito painted by naval historian and artist Irwin John Bevan (1852–1940). The original is in the Bailey Collection of watercolor views of U.S. Naval Actions (1740–1850) at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

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