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Flying Dragon

A Dutch ship, formerly a privateer, taken in the Cape Verde Islands and renamed by Condent, who cruised her in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean until his company destroyed her as the condition of a pardon from the Governor of Bourbon.

LaunchedNot establishedToNot establishedAlso writtenDragon (the form in the first volume of the General History, 1724, and in the two contemporary documents, Le Mercure and the deposition of Richard Moor, both read at second hand); Fiery Dragon (modern; carried by no early source read for this record)

Three names attach to this ship and only two of them are old. The chapter on Captain Condent in the second volume of the History of the Pyrates, printed in 1728, calls her the Flying Dragon throughout, and that is the name this archive uses. The two contemporary documents that mention her, a French periodical and a seaman's deposition, both have her as the Dragon. Fiery Dragon is the form modern writers prefer, and it belongs to none of the early notices.1

An earlier notice

The first volume of the same work, printed in 1724, carries her too, and carries her at a remove. Commodore Matthews's squadron reached India early in 1721, and a letter had been left for the commodore at the Cape of Good Hope that June, to be taken up on the way out. The Governor of Pondicherry, a French factory on the Coromandel coast, had written it to the Governor of Madras, and the Governor of Madras left it at the Cape of Good Hope for the squadron to find. Among the news in it: others under Conden, in a ship called the Dragon, had taken a large Moor's vessel coming out of Iudda and Mocho "with thirteen Lackies of Rupees on Board", which Johnson glosses at 1,300,000 half crowns.2

Conden is one of the period spellings of her captain's name, alongside Congdon and Cogdom. Christopher Condent, the form he is indexed under now, was put together in the twentieth century.3

Hull, guns, crew

She was a Dutch ship, once a privateer, taken at St Jago in the Cape Verde Islands, and it was there that she got her new name. Where she was built, who owned her, and what she had been called before that day are nowhere set down, and no contemporary paper touches her origin at all.4

No tonnage, no gun-count and no complement is set down for her anywhere, though the guns of her prizes are counted readily enough: a Dutch East-Indiaman of 26 guns, a Portuguese man of war of 70, a French ship of 18. Twenty to thirty guns and a company of a hundred to a hundred and fifty are given her by later writers, uncited, and no early source carries them.5

The prize list

Her cruise, as the 1728 chapter lays it out, runs from the Cape Verde Islands down to the coast of Brazil and the River Plate, then round into the Indian Ocean, to Ile Sainte-Marie, Johanna and Bourbon, taking prizes the whole way. The Atlantic half of that cruise is carried nowhere else.6

The richest of them is Portuguese: a ship "of 70 Guns, with the Vice-Roy of Goa, on board", taken near Bourbon. Le Mercure of May 1722 put Congdon and the Dragon into the affair of the Count of Ericeira, who was that viceroy, and no other notice of the capture stands outside the chapter.7

Sunk, or burnt

The Governor of Bourbon, Joseph de Beauvollier, granted the company his protection on condition that they destroyed their ships, the petition going to him in a Bristol snow, and at Ile Sainte-Marie the pirates "accordingly sunk the Flying Dragon".8

The Pondicherry letter ends her otherwise. Having taken the Moor's vessel, its pirates divided the plunder, "burnt their Ship and Prize, and sat down quietly with their other Friends" at Madagascar. Burnt, and not sunk, though by their own hands either way. Whether that is one destruction remembered twice, or two different ships, is not settled.9

No wreck

Nothing has come off the sea bed that belongs to her. The wreck identified off Ile Sainte-Marie in 2025 is the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, and Barry Clifford's earlier identification of a hull at the island as the Fiery Dragon was never confirmed. Popular accounts attach that wreck to this ship anyway.10

What is missing is her paper. No certificate of registry, no log and no prize-court file has been found, and a Dutch privateer taken and renamed should have left a trace in somebody's books. She rests on one chapter of one book printed in 1728, with a paragraph of 1724 and two documents read at second hand to set beside it. Her burthen, her armament, the size of her company, and the day and the manner of her end are all open.11

What the evidence does not settle

Ship particulars

  • Flying Dragon's tonnage, armament and complementConfirmed

Prize list

  • Which captures were made by Flying Dragon

Final disposition

  • Whether the company sank her at Ile Sainte-Marie or burnt her elsewhere in Madagascar

Each line is one question with its own grade, taken from the register where a claim carries it. Nothing here is graded as a whole.

Sources for this record

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

  1. The ship is named the Flying Dragon in the 1728 chapter on Captain Condent and the Dragon in the two contemporary documents that mention her; the form Fiery Dragon is carried by no early source and is a modern coinage. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and contemporary documents: The History of the Pyrates (vol. II), chapter 'Of Captain Condent', digital.lib.ecu.edu item 17002, internal book pp. 140 to 143; Le Mercure (Mercure de France); Deposition of Richard Moor, both read through Edward Congdon, the Misunderstood Pirate!
  2. The first volume of the General History of the Pyrates, printed in 1724, reports the substance of a letter written by the Governor of Pondicherry, sent to the Governor of Madras and left for Commodore Matthews at the Cape of Good Hope in June, the squadron having reached India early in 1721, and states that others under Conden, in a ship called the Dragon, took a large Moor's vessel coming from Iudda and Mocho with thirteen lackies of rupees on board, glossed as 1,300,000 half crowns. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates, Vol. I (1724), CHAP. V, OF Capt. Edward England, And his CREW, the account of Commodore Matthews's squadron in the Indian seas
  3. The ship's commander is Edward Congdon in the period spellings, which include Conden, Congdon and Cogdom, while the given name Christopher and the surname form Condent are a twentieth-century coinage. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Historian's article and contemporary documents: Edward Congdon, the Misunderstood Pirate!; Le Mercure (Mercure de France); Deposition of Richard Moor
  4. The 1728 chapter states that she was a Dutch ship, formerly a privateer, taken at St Jago in the Cape Verde Islands and there renamed; no contemporary document read for this record describes her origin. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates (vol. II), chapter 'Of Captain Condent', digital.lib.ecu.edu item 17002, internal book pp. 140 to 143
  5. The 1728 chapter gives the ship herself no tonnage, no gun-count and no crew figure, and counts guns only for her prizes, a Dutch East-Indiaman of 26 guns, a Portuguese man of war of 70 guns and a French ship of 18 guns; the figures of 20 to 30 guns and a crew of 100 to 150 given by later writers are uncited and appear in no source read for this record. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates (vol. II), chapter 'Of Captain Condent', digital.lib.ecu.edu item 17002, internal book pp. 140 to 143
  6. Under Condent the ship cruised the Cape Verde Islands, the coast of Brazil and the River Plate and then the Indian Ocean, at Ile Sainte-Marie, Johanna and Bourbon, taking many prizes; the route rests on the 1728 chapter alone, apart from the Indian Ocean presence in 1720, which a contemporary French periodical independently corroborates. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates (vol. II), chapter 'Of Captain Condent', digital.lib.ecu.edu item 17002, internal book pp. 140 to 143
  7. The richest prize in the 1728 chapter is a Portuguese ship 'of 70 Guns, with the Vice-Roy of Goa, on board', taken near Bourbon, and Le Mercure of May 1722 independently places Congdon and the Dragon with the Count of Ericeira, who was the Viceroy of Goa. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative and contemporary periodical: The History of the Pyrates (vol. II), chapter 'Of Captain Condent', digital.lib.ecu.edu item 17002, internal book pp. 140 to 143; Le Mercure (Mercure de France), May 1722, read through Edward Congdon, the Misunderstood Pirate!
  8. The Governor of Bourbon, Joseph de Beauvollier, granted the company protection on condition that they destroyed their ships, the petition being carried in a Bristol snow, and the 1728 chapter states that the pirates 'accordingly sunk the Flying Dragon' at Ile Sainte-Marie. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates (vol. II), chapter 'Of Captain Condent', digital.lib.ecu.edu item 17002, internal book pp. 140 to 143
  9. The 1724 report states that the pirates who took the Moor's vessel, having divided the plunder, burnt their ship and their prize and sat down quietly with their other friends at Madagascar. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates, Vol. I (1724), CHAP. V, OF Capt. Edward England, And his CREW, the account of Commodore Matthews's squadron in the Indian seas
  10. No material or archaeological evidence has been shown to identify this ship: the wreck confirmed off Ile Sainte-Marie in 2025 is the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, and Barry Clifford's earlier identification of a wreck at the island as the Fiery Dragon was not confirmed. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Archaeology reporting and public history: Archaeologists Find 300-Year-Old Shipwreck in What Used to Be One of the Baddest Pirate Lairs on Earth; The Fiery Dragon
  11. The ship is known essentially only through the second volume of the General History of the Pyrates, with scattered contemporary corroboration for the name Dragon and for a 1720 presence in the Indian Ocean; no ship's register, log or prize-court paper for her has been located. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates (vol. II), chapter 'Of Captain Condent', digital.lib.ecu.edu item 17002, internal book pp. 140 to 143; Edward Congdon, the Misunderstood Pirate!; Le Mercure (Mercure de France); Deposition of Richard Moor