Pirate War
From Wild Southwest Wiki
The Pirate War was a series of conflicts between Porongurup State and sea based raiders operating along the Pirate Coast lasting from 2062 to 2066. The war saw the construction of the PRS Resurgam and ended with the elimination of the pirate threat.
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Prelude to the War
From 2050 onwards the trading and fishing fleet of the nascent Porongurup state was increasingly harried by small groups of raiders operating from the bays, islands and coves along the eastern coast. The Rangers were able to attack some of the nearer bases from land, however their efforts were hampered by a lack of suitable shipping. Some attempts at co-ordinated land and naval attacks were made using borrowed and commandeered fishing boats, but the effect was minimal.
Around 2060, with the attacks getting worse yearly, the Rangers and Government began to consider construction of a specialised warship to tackle the piracy problem once and for all. This project was hampered by the need to obtain enough steel plate to armour the hull, as some pirate groups had access to pre-war technology including rockets and torpedoes. Although the effectiveness of these weapons were compromised by age, they were still powerful enough to severely damage or destroy a wooden or fibreglass hull.
With the attacks increasing, debate dragged on until July 2062.
The Two Peoples Bay Massacre
On July 24th 2062 a group of pirates attacked the settlement of Two Peoples Bay, just down the coast from Albany. Attacking just after sundown, they sank four fishing boats, burned most of the town's major buildings, carried away almost everything of value and killed twenty-five of the townspeople.
Concerned that the pirates would be attacking Albany shortly, the Porongurup Government launched a series of retributive strikes, and the Rangers began a program of locating and charting all pirate bases between Albany and the pre-war town of Esperance.
These actions are regarded as the start of the Pirate War proper.
The PRS Resurgam
In October 2062 a charting mission discovered the hulk of a Royal Australian Navy frigate beached on Hood Island in the Recherche Archipelago. A mission to recover steel plate and any other salvageable materials was launched in early November, and although the fleet came under repeated attack from the pirates they returned to Albany with their salvage in early January 2063.
In the meantime a wreck had been selected from the hulks in the Albany Shipyard. It was hauled from the mud in April 2063 and a year long process of conversion and refitting began.
The new warship - christened the PRS Resurgam was launched on March 3rd 2064, and entered active service in May.
The Conclusion of the War
Over the next two years the Rangers engaged in a number of actions against the pirates, backed by the Resurgam. Hopetoun was cleared out in August 2065, and the major pirate base of Esperance in December. In April 2066 the pirate threat, and the war, was declared officially over.
Outcomes of the War
- The Pirate War helped the Porongurup Rangers develop into a professional military force with a dedicated naval branch.
- The construction of the PRS Resurgam gave Porongurup State a naval supremacy that remains unrivaled to this day.
- The elimination of the Pirate groups
- Allowed sea trade to flourish along the south coast, promoting contact and co-operation between the developing Southern States.
- Made possible the establishment of Pallinup State, while simultaneously depriving it of a sizable potential population.
- Eliminated almost all navigators with knowledge of the eastern coast, hindering eastwards exploration for decades.
