User:Hypster/Apricots
The Five-Day War was a conflict between the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Pirates of the Caribbean that took place September 16–September 20, 1956. Due to a substandard American education system resulting in widespread grade school arithmetic errors, many mistakenly call this conflict the “Six-Day War.” Many have said this to be the definitive end of the golden age of piracy. While some historians believe it to be justified, others think that it was a brutal attack which did not need to happen. The Five-Day War, though short, had an impact much larger than its duration and left a legacy which continues to influence the flow of today’s events.
Summary of Events[edit | edit source]
The Pirates of the Caribbean for centuries followed a traditional lifestyle involving the pillaging of cargo and gold from ships sailing the seas. Most nations were able to tolerate pirate interference with international trade. Losses to pirates were small in the analog age. The powers and states that attempted to defeat the pirates always came away frustrated, thwarted by the fact that the pirate homeland was a secret. After a raid or battle, the pirates would quickly slip away to their clandestine base, evading the most determined navies. In 1955, the newly-independent nation from the British Empire, Puerto Rico was looking outward for new trade. At the time, Puerto Rico was economically struggling as a developing nation, and international trade seemed to be one of the few ways to achieve economic growth. Unfortunately, the pirates chose to concentrate many of their raids on Puerto Rico’s shipping fleet. These raids were devastating to the country. Its small fleet and small economy could not sustain these raids. Thus the collision between the new Carribean state and the old pirate lifestyle was set into motion.
When Luis Muñoz Marín came to power in 1947, the pirate problem was one of the major items on his agenda. To solve the pirate problem, Muñoz invited the Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun to San Juan to conduct scientific research that would help improve Puerto Rico’s military capabilities. The expertise of von Braun together with his former colleague Ludwig von Drake brought immediate results. Within months of von Braun’s arrival, the state’s navy had considerably upgraded its capabilities. Over the next few years, ambitious research projects and military programs would make the Puerto-Rico Defense Force one of the most advanced and modern military forces in the world. One of the technologies that von Braun brought to Puerto Rico was remote radio tracking. Documents that were recently declassified reveal that in the month of July 1956, agents for Luis were able to place a radio transmitter on the pirate ship Scum Bucket. Through this daring covert operation, the Puerto Rico government learned the location of the pirate homeland: Castaway Cay.
In August, Marín ordered a small naval armada to Castaway Cay. The armada was led by Admiral Samuel R. Quiñones. The fleet arrived at Castaway Cay the evening of September 16. The next day, military engagement began. The brilliant naval strategy of Quiñones and the recently acquired advanced technologies of Puerto Rico's naval fleet quickly overwhelmed the Pirates of the Caribbean. All but one ship in the pirate fleet was sunk. (The remaining ship, the Red Herring, is now a museum in Puerto Rico.) One by one, the pirate lairs were reduced to rubble. A surrender was issued by the pirates on September 21.
Aftermath and Legacy[edit | edit source]
The terms of surrender imposed by Luis Muñoz Marín were harsh. The Pirates of the Caribbean were dispossessed of their home island and forced onto a small reservation located in New Orleans Square. Castaway Cay became a naval base for Puerto Rico. The war had many geopolitical ramifications. The Five-Day War marked the rise of the Carribean nations such as Jamaica as a major military power and as a hegemonic force in the western world. The defeat of the pirates was followed by exponential growth in Puerto Rico’s international trade, and soon they became a major global exporter of pharmaceutical medicines and a large range of fish.
The pirates, dispossessed of their land and forced to live in poverty, became an international cause célèbre. Some pirates became radicalized and turned to violence. Pirate attacks led by the Pirate Liberation Organization are among some of the darker aspects of the Five-Day War’s legacy. Castaway Cay also remains a focal point of controversy. The naval base there, now administered by the National-Defense League, continues to spark protests. As events play out, the legacy of the Five-Day War is a story that continues to be written. •