The Battle of Ambergris Key (September 1719) was a large naval battle fought between a force of over eight Portuguese Navy ships (in a fleet of 42 ships) and two pirate ships (including a captured Portuguese warship) at Ambergris Key off the coast of Belize. The pirate captains Bartholomew Roberts and Edward Kenway sought to retrieve blood vials stored on the powerful Portuguese man o' war Nosso Senhor da Compreensao, and they decided to go about it stealthily. Sailing Kenway's Jackdaw, Roberts used the captured Portuguese captain Flavio Tavares to distract the other Portuguese ships as Kenway snuck aboard the brig Santa Isabel as it stopped to water and resupply, and he proceeded to quietly steal its flag; Kenway threw the flag down to some pirates on a rowboat, and the Portuguese flag was raised from the Jackdaw to disguise its true purpose. Kenway later snuck ashore and killed several Portuguese guards before stealing a chest full of empty blood vials; Roberts killed Captain Tavares, who had "outlived his usefulness". Kenway then took out a watchtower along the water in order for the Jackdaw to move closer to the Nosso Senhor, and Kenway assassinated the ship's captain Leonel Couto to allow for Roberts to take it over. The Portuguese spotted the pirates as they attempted to make off in the Nosso Senhor, and Kenway had the pirates use the ship's powerful guns to pour fire on the weaker Portuguese vessels, sinking even men-of-war with ease. The pirates escaped with the ship, and Roberts decided to take Kenway to the Observatory in Long Bay, Jamaica to thank him for helping him with retrieving the blood vials.
Order of battle[]
Pirates[]
Jackdaw - brig- Nosso Senhor da Compreensao (captured) - man o' war
Portuguese[]
- Nosso Senhor da Compreensao - man o' war
- Santa Isabel - brig †
- Santa Leocadia - frigate †
- Principe de Asturias - brig †
- Pena - gunboat †
- Santa Barbara - gunboat †
- Santa Ana - man o' war †
- Cambi - man o' war †
