Hernández Morales led another sloop, intercepting Beagle off Vieques. After a battle, the pirate sloop was captured and Hernández Morales was transported to St. Thomas for trial. After being sentenced to death, he escaped from prison and disappeared for years. According to a St. Thomas resident, on February 12, 1825 the pirates retaliated by setting fire to a town on the island.
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In autumn of 1821, USS Spark, under Lieutenant John Elton, departed Boston and joined the list of vessels assigned to counter piracy. In January 1822, Elton captured a Dutch-flagged pirate sloop. Seven prisoners were taken to Charleston for trial. The Spark then returned to the Caribbean and remained on station for the next 3 years, by which time the official West Indies Squadron was formed.
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In autumn of 1821, USS Spark, under Lieutenant John Elton, departed Boston and joined the list of vessels assigned to counter piracy. In January 1822, Elton captured a Dutch flagged pirate sloop. Seven prisoners were taken to Charleston for trial, Spark then returned to the Caribbean and remained on station for the next three years by which time the official West Indies Squadron was formed.
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On October 26 the USS Beagle, commanded by Charles T. Platt, navigated by John Low and carrying shopkeeper George Bedford (with a list of plundered goods, which were reportedly near Naguabo) left Saint Thomas. Platt sailed to Vieques, following a tip about a pirate sloop. Beagle opened fire, interrupting the capture of a sloop from Saint Croix, but the pirates docked at Punta Arenas in Vieques and fled inland; one, identified as Juan Felis, was captured after a shootout.
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Several weeks passed before a ship and a sloop approached the harbour, weighed anchor and signalled for a pilot. None was sent as they suspected it to be Moody and several days elapsed during which time the pirates attempted to land on Sullivan's Island to find fresh water, but were obstructed by the scout ships. The Governor decided that his fleet of four ships and three-hundred men was a match for the pirate ship and sloop so sailed towards them with his soldiers and arms concealed. As they neared the pirate sloop it raised its black flag, started to manoeuvre and was soon copied by the pirate ship.
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When the Governor's fleet came within range he hoisted his colours and his men rushed upon the decks and gave the pirates a broadside who immediately tried to run. The pirate sloop was pummelled with broadsides and most of its men fled into the hold with the exception of Worley and a few others who died in the cross-fire upon deck. The other pirate ship was boarded and found to be a convict ship formerly called the "Eagle" which had been sailing from London to Virginia with convicts but had been captured by Worley. It carried a hundred or more men who had joined the pirate and were taken ashore and hanged.
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In early May 1717, a sloop under the command of a Captain Carr was captured by ten pirates on a 25-ton sloop (formerly owned by a Colonel Stephen Minot) in Pemaquid. The pirate sloop had come from Monhegan to the south, where on April 29, the Snow (a type of two masted vessel) Anne arrived. The Anne had originally been captured off the Virginia Capes in April by the pirate Samuel Bellamy in the Whydah, which wrecked in a storm on the night of April 26, 1717 off of Cape Cod. The Anne made it through the storm with another captured vessel, the Fisher (which was soon abandoned and the pirates aboard her transferred to the Anne).
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