Pirate Bartholomew Roberts was killed in battle in 1722.
The decisive encounter took place on 10 February 1722 off Cape Lopez, on the coast of West Africa. Roberts and his crew were surprised by HMS Swallow, a Royal Navy warship commanded by Captain Chaloner Ogle. Roberts was killed by grapeshot while standing on the deck of his flagship.
His crew surrendered after his death, and many of the surviving pirates were tried at the Cape Coast Castle court. The large-scale prosecution helped damage the pirate networks operating around West Africa and the Caribbean.
Roberts’ death is important because his career had been unusually successful. He had captured and plundered hundreds of vessels in only a few years, and his loss removed one of the Golden Age’s most capable commanders. The event is sometimes presented as the end of the Golden Age itself, although piracy continued afterward in several regions.