Opal Coast, land of corsairs between Boulogne and Dunkirk

The town of Gravelines, whose name often appears in history, attached to all the vicissitudes suffered by the Flemish country, remained for so long the scene of deadly wars. Until the episode of the Smogglers at the beginning of the 19th century (not to be confused here with the Gravelines Diving Club, the Smogglers), the town was a military place and the population was concentrated within the walls of the fortified town. This military place with access to the sea would be exploited advantageously by the Corsairs in the service of the French state.

The Association of Descendants of Corsair Captains lists 6,014 Corsair Captains, primarily between Northern Brittany and Dunkirk. For comparison, Patrick Villiers, a history professor at the University of the Littoral-Opal Coast, mentions 3,500 Corsair Captains in France during the period between Louis XIV and 1815, for 5,000 armed vessels and 27,000 vessels captured or ransomed. This shows the importance of this activity from an economic and social perspective in this part of the Opal Coast for more than two centuries.

The reconstruction of a 17th-century ship by the Tourville association in Gravelines allows visitors to immerse themselves in the atmosphere and challenges of this era of coastal racing. https://youtu.be/MovbiN_jOHY
From Philip II to Philip IV, Spain defined a Corsair legislation and strategy that would be adopted by other European nations. Corsairs operated along the Flemish coast, out of Dunkirk, on behalf of private shipowners in the service of Spain during the Eighty Years' War, also known as the Dutch Revolt or the Beggars' Revolt, against the Spanish monarchy. It was this period that gave privateering its reputation. Despite a constant blockade by Dutch warships, the corsairs often managed to force their way through and continued to affect Dutch naval activities.
Corsairs used a light and highly maneuverable type of ship, the frigate, whose shallow draft allowed them to cross sandbanks where heavy warships would run aground. This often enabled them to escape their pursuers.
The coastal ports were then in a difficult economic situation, so Spain's desire to develop privateering was very welcome and saved more than one sailor from unemployment. The privateers cooperated closely with the Spanish regular navy and participated in the Battle of the Downs, between Dover and Deal, in Kent. The great privateer families, such as the Barts, Weuss, or Bommelaers, had family ties to Spanish admirals or admirals working for Spain, such as Michel Jacobsen.
The English Channel and the North Sea constituted the corsairs' primary theater of operations. Spain expected them, above all, to hold this sector. Gravelines was a source of sailors and also served as a fallback port for receiving ransomed ships and transporting goods to trading towns such as Saint Omer, a town of contact between Flanders and Artois. Gravelines was an important place for chartering and repairing ships. Vauban's correspondence books, particularly those in Louvois, confirm the presence of corsairs in Gravelines. August 31, 1675: "...If the corsairs of this city (of Gravelines) were a little helped and better supported than they are, it is certain that they would do much more harm to the Dutch by their piracy than all our land armies; because, every day, they make some prize and the harbor and the ditches of Mardick are so full of ships that they have brought there that those who arrive no longer know where to put themselves. But I learn that instead of protecting them and even fortifying them with a few coastguards or somewhat strong frigates to help them get their prizes in the harbor, that an Ostend ship of 28 guns and 200 crewmen often takes them away; I learn, I say, that they take away the herring fishermen 2, who were accustomed to being their last resorts and to pay for their journey with the price of some of their ships, when there was nothing else to take."
The names of Jean Bart and Du Guay-Trouin, made famous by so many daring exploits and so many captures made against the enemy, sufficiently demonstrate the powerful support the privateers provided to our regular navy during the reign of Louis XIV. They alone were enough to offset all the advantages won by the allied fleets; after the great event of La Hougue, they were able to victoriously defend the French coasts and make the enemy doubt the dubious advantage they had just gained against France. Jean Bart is the most famous privateer in the history of the Navy. Legendary, he is known as the "Fox of the Seas", because he is said to have captured almost 400 ships during his career. Promoted to lieutenant in 1679, his story took a romantic turn ten years later with the Battle of the Isle of Wight. To allow the ships they were escorting to escape, and despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Jean Bart and Claude de Forbin attacked the English warships threatening the convoy. They lost the battle but managed to free the escorted ships before finding themselves imprisoned in Albion, in Plymouth. His spectacular escape just a few weeks later—he rowed alone for two days before docking in Saint-Malo—increased Jean Bart's credibility in the popular imagination, as well as in the mind of the Sun King. He was subsequently made captain.
The legend was written on June 29, 1694: off the Dutch island of Texel, the French convoy of a hundred sails was seen on the horizon, which had just been captured by the United Provinces, and although once again inferior
in numbers. The result is unequivocal: 16 deaths among the French compared to more than 300 among the Dutch.

Although he had been made a knight of the Order of Saint Louis by Louis XIV in 1690, the Battle of Texel earned him ennoblement from the king.

The Dutch were able to call him with some rancor "Louis XIV's greatest pirate." Yet, in 1697, Jean Bart was appointed squadron leader of Flanders, and two years later became commander of the Navy at Dunkirk.

This great connoisseur of the North Sea, this privateer in the service of the king, died of pleurisy at the age of 52, on April 27, 1702. From 1763 to 1773, the return of peace allowed them to devote themselves to cod fishing in Iceland and herring. Since 1602, King Christian IV of Denmark, sovereign of the island, had decreed a monopoly, for his subjects alone, on trade and fishing with Iceland. Suddenly, Icelandic ports and waters were closed to foreign vessels. The situation prevailed for more than 150 years during which Iceland's economic situation continued to deteriorate. It was not until 1766 that the Danish monopoly was relaxed and foreign sailors were once again authorized to come and fish there. As early as 1767, ships were equipped for this purpose in Dunkirk, which served as a precursor here. A few years later, the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Gravelines also launched into this fishing industry. However, conditions were far from ideal because the Danish monopoly, which was only just being relaxed (it was only definitively abolished in 1854), maintained the ban on foreign ships anchoring in Icelandic ports and trading with the islanders. The French government was even forced, by force of circumstances, to send ships there to provide assistance and protect its sailors. Despite these difficulties, the promise of miraculous catches and the lure of profit continued to attract new participants. In 1793, hostilities resumed with our arch-enemies, the English. As fishing became difficult due to the war, many sailors decided to become privateers.
Jacques Antoine Altazin (1769-1830) Corsair captain of a family AUDRESSELLES and WISSANT under the Republic and the Empire skillfully exploited the position of Gravelines. In 1806 he forced the Young Edwards, loaded with coal and a galley to enter the port of Gravelines and caused the John Niebolson, a 150-ton brig, to run aground there after a chase in March 1807. From Corsairs to Smugglers: The Smogglers After the disaster of Trafalgar in 1805, trade between France and England was suspended. This situation favored smuggling between the two countries. Aware of the economic and financial stakes represented by this traffic, Napoleon decreed on November 30, 1811, that Gravelines was the only port open to smugglers designated by the Smogglers. Gravelines welcomed the Smogglers, English smugglers, to bring in their gold and offset the effects of the English blockade on French trade. It was along the Channel, on the Petit Fort Philippe side, opposite the "Bouteilles à la mer" house, that alcohol and goods were traded. From these expeditions, they brought back wines, spirits, and silks. Sentries posted around the Fort de la Flaque aux Espagnols were to ensure that all tricks and circumventions of the law were prevented. The restored Guardhouse, at the foot of the Lighthouse, bears witness to the adventures experienced by the heroes of this almost legendary story. It was in 1814 that the blockade was completely lifted and "smogging" was no longer an exceptional trade.
Some of these Smogglers would emigrate from 1816 to the mouth of this same channel to found Petit-Fort-Philippe. The information comes from:

- sites of the town of Gravelines, the Gravelines Marina, Vauban Sites, Nordmag, personal blog, wikipedia Grand Fort, webnord,

- publications such as A nous Fort-Phillip, Instant des Forts, Jean Bart, Corsair of the Sun King (Patrick Villiers), Vauban, the intelligence of the territory, Vauban (Bernard Pujo),

- references and web sources on the activities of the Corsairs' race between Dunkirk and Boulogne: site of the corsairs of Calais, Dunkirk, Boulogne, a personal blog on the history of the North, the exhibition of the Tourville association in Gravelines, site of La Défense, the H Van Der Zee Company.