Jackdaw

2013-12-31T12:13:09Z

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{{Era|AC4}}
{{Spoilerhd}}
{{Quote|This country here is my best chance. This country called Jackdaw, where I know the names of all the citizens and they know mine, and we work together. Not always out of love, but to keep our country afloat.|Adéwalé to Edward Kenway, 1717.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
[[File:AC4 Jackdaw.png|thumb|250px|The ''Jackdaw'' docked in Great Inagua]]
The '''''Jackdaw''''' was a [[brig]] captained by the [[Piracy|pirate]] and later [[Assassins|Assassin]] [[Edward Kenway]], which he obtained with the help of [[Adéwalé]], during his time in the [[Caribbean|West Indies]]. Before Kenway's captaincy, the [[Ships|ship]] was a part of a [[Spanish Treasure Fleet]] and named ''El Dorado''. Upon securing it, Kenway renamed the vessel ''Jackdaw'', after the bird of the same name.<ref name="AC4">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''</ref>

==History==
===Procurement===
After an imprisoned Edward Kenway was placed on a ship in the fleet bound for [[Spain]], he met his future quartermaster, Adéwalé, who helped free Edward from their leg irons and assisted him in incapacitating the guards until the pirate retrieved his equipment. Following this, the pair secured a crew by freeing other prisoners from their Spanish captors, before they set their sights on a brig in the fleet, ''El Dorado'', and made their way to relinquish it. Subsequently, Kenway used the pirates he freed to help sail the ship from the fleet under the cover of a severe storm, successfully escaping the natural disaster while the remaining ships were sunk. Kenway then renamed the ship the ''Jackdaw'', after a small, swift bird from his home of Wales.

===Piracy===
{{Dialogue|Edward|It's a shaky feeling, sailing around with this much stolen cargo.|Hornigold|Get used to it. We'll need to take a few more prizes to make this a profitable day.|Edward Kenway and Benjamin Hornigold, after the ''Jackdaw'' took its first brig, 1715.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
The ''Jackdaw'''s first major act of piracy took place off of the coast of [[Nassau]] in 1715, when Captain [[Benjamin Hornigold]] showed Kenway how to successfully take a ship. Soon after, it was used to transport Kenway to [[Cat Island]] to plunder a plantation and eventually followed a Spanish [[Man O' War]], the ''[[El Arca Del Maestro]],'' through [[the Bahamas]] to its moorings at the Great [[Inagua]]. Kenway infiltrated the island, killed the French Templar [[Julien du Casse]] and took both the ship and the island. It was here that he would establish his own base of operations, and the ''Jackdaw'' could often be found moored at the docks in the cove.

The ''Jackdaw'' traveled across the West Indies Sea to the ancient city of [[Tulum]], home of the Assassins, where the crew members were soon taken prisoner by [[Laurens Prins]]. Kenway freed his crew and they returned to sea. Soon after, the ship took its first fort, located at [[Punta Guarico]], and made sail for Kingston. At some point prior to 1735, the ''Jackdaw'' sank off the coast of Hispaniola due to unknown circumstances. Its figurehead was later recovered from the wreckage by Adéwalé.<ref name="FC">''Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - [[Freedom Cry]]''</ref>

==Schematics==
The ''Jackdaw'' was 60 meters long, 48.5 meters high, had a width of 11.9 meters, and had twenty-six sails. Accompanying this, the ''Jackdaw'' was armed with forty-six {{Wiki|Broadside|broadside cannons}}, four {{Wiki|Cannons|chaser cannons}} and two {{Wiki|swivel gun}}s. Accompanying this, she could hold a sizable number of [[Naval mines|fire barrels]], {{Wiki|heated shot}} and mortar rounds, and was equipped with a iron plated {{Wiki|naval ram}}. At her strongest, the ''Jackdaw'' possessed a sizable amount of iron-plating reinforcement across her hull, which provided ample protection in combat against a number of [[Man O' War|Men O' War]]. The brig was able to disable and destroy any type of ship, given the proper strategy in battle.

She was also equipped with a {{Wiki|diving bell}} for exploration of various underwater wrecks, as well as a whaling rowboat and harpoons, which allowed Edward to [[Hunting|hunt]] for local sea life. Like most ships of the time and area, her masts featured pedal-activated lifts and hooks to allow both ascent and descent. The ''Jackdaw'' also had cleverly-placed swinging ropes secured both on deck and in the cross-masts that were used by the crew to swing from one ship to another.<ref name="AC4"/>

==Notable conflicts==
While the ''Jackdaw'' did not participate in any major historical battles of the era, she still had more than her fair share of legendary combat. Notable skirmishes, such as the battle which took Blackbeard's life near [[Ocracoke]], and the later conflict off the coast of [[Príncipe]] – in which [[Bartholomew Roberts]] was killed – were fought on the ''Jackdaw'''s decks.

The ship was a formidable raider in the Caribbean -- it single-handedly outgunned and destroyed all of the naval forts around the Caribbean at one time or another. The ''Jackdaw'' also took many ships, from gunboats to Men O' War, including the five legendary ships that roamed the Caribbean Sea: ''[[El Impoluto]]'', the twin ships [[HMS Fearless|HMS ''Fearless'']] and ''[[Royal Sovereign]]'', ''[[La Dama Negra]]'', and [[HMS Prince|HMS ''Prince'']].

==Crew==
*Edward Kenway - Captain.
*Adéwalé (until 1721-22) - Quartermaster.
*[[Anne Bonny]] (from 1721-22 onward) - Quartermaster.
*Numerous unnamed pirates

==Trivia==
*Like many other references to the Assassin Order involving avians, a {{Wiki|Western Jackdaw|jackdaw}} is a small, black bird belonging to the crow family. Coincidentally, the color of the bird's feathers themselves could also be a reference to piracy often being symbolized by black.
*[[Darby McDevitt]] mentioned the ''Jackdaw'''s name was also a reference to the fable of [http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/subjects/english/aesops_fables/25-32/eagle_and_jackdaw the Eagle and the Jackdaw], which is recited during the "[[Delirium]]" memory.
*The former name of the ship, ''El Dorado'', is Spanish for "the gilded one; the golden".
*In the captain's cabin, there was a statue of an Vulture near the ''Jackdaw'''s rear window. There was also a bust of an unknown man in the right corner. Other cabin decorations include several flags, lanterns, a desk, and some chairs.
*The ''Jackdaw'' flew a generic pirate flag for most of its time under Kenway's command. After Edward [[...Everything Is Permitted|defended the Assassins]] from a Spanish raid, the flag changed to include the [[Assassin insignia]] around the skull.
*At elite level, most of the ''Jackdaw'''s equipment, including the swivel guns, broadside, and mortars, were plated gold. The elite hull upgrade also included liberal gold and iron plating on the ship's hull and deck.
*After defeating all legendary ships, the Jackdaw gained a charge attack, allowing it to inflict greater damage on an enemy ship.

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small" widths="180">
AC4 - Concept Art - Ship.jpg|Concept art of the ''Jackdaw''
The Treasure Fleet 9.png|Adéwalé and Edward aboard the ''Jackdaw''
This Tyro Captain 3.png|The ''Jackdaw'' sailing the Caribbean
AC4 Jackdaw Wreck.png|The ''Jackdaw'''s wreck
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{AC4}}
[[Category:Ships]]
[[Category:Assassin ships]]
[[Category:Pirate ships]]
[[Category:Spanish Navy warships]]

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Jackdaw