Jackdaw

The Jackdaw was a brig captained by the pirate-turned-Assassin Edward Kenway, which he obtained with the help of Adéwalé, during the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean.
Before Kenway's captaincy, the ship was known as El Dorado, and formed a part of the Spanish Treasure Fleet. Upon securing her, Kenway renamed the vessel Jackdaw, after the bird of the .
==History==
===Procurement===
After an imprisoned Edward Kenway was placed on a ship in the fleet bound for Spain, he met his future quartermaster, Adéwalé, who helped free Edward from the and assisted him in incapacitating the guards until the pirates retrieved their equipment.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – The Treasure Fleet
Following this, the pair secured a crew by freeing other prisoners from their Spanish captors, and set their sights on a brig within the fleet, El Dorado. Subsequently, Kenway used the pirates he freed to escape from the fleet under the cover of a hurricane. While El Dorado managed to successfully navigate the natural disaster, the remaining ships sank during the pursuit. Later on, Kenway then rechristened the ship the Jackdaw, after a small, swift bird from his homeland of Wales.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – This Tyro Captain
===Piracy===
The Jackdaws first major act of piracy took place off of the coast of Nassau in 1715, when captain Benjamin Hornigold showed Kenway how to successfully take a ship.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Prizes and Plunder It was after this voyage that the brig was given its very own black flag.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Raise the Black Flag
Soon after, it was used to transport Kenway to Cat Island to plunder a plantation, and eventually followed the Spanish Man O' War El Arca del Maestro through the Bahamas to its moorings at Great Inagua. Kenway then infiltrated the island, killed the French arms dealer and Caribbean Templar Julien du Casse, and took both the ship and the island. It was here that he would establish his own base of operations, and the Jackdaw could often be found moored at the docks in the cove.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – A Single Madman
The Jackdaw traveled across the West Indies Sea to the ancient city of Tulum, home of the Caribbean Assassins, where the crew members were soon taken prisoner by Laurens Prins; Kenway soon freed his crew and they returned to sea.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Overrun and Outnumbered Shortly after, the ship took its first fort, located at Punta Guarico, and made sail for Kingston.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – The Forts After Kenway killed Prins, the ship returned to Nassau.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Unmanned
However, the Pirate Republic was suffering from disease, prompting Kenway to outfit the Jackdaw with a diving bell in search for medicines.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Diving for Medicines When he came up empty, he followed his fellow pirate Edward Thatch to Charles-Towne to secure medicines before returning again to Nassau.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – The Siege of Charles-Towne
After the city was blockaded by the British, the Jackdaw, along with Charles Vane's ship, the Ranger, was able to escape and flee to Great Inagua.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – The Fireship There, Kenway made plans to find Thatch again and set sail for Ocracoke. When the pirates were ambushed by the Royal Navy, the Jackdaw was the only vessel to escape.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Do Not Go Gently...
The Jackdaw and the Ranger met up again off the coast of Cuba, in pursuit of a ship that would lead them to Bartholomew Roberts. However, Vane's associate Jack Rackham had engineered a mutiny, taking the Jackdaw and leaving Kenway and Vane marooned on Isla Providencia.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Vainglorious Bastards
Kenway managed to make his way back to Great Inagua, where Adéwalé and Mary Read had taken the Jackdaw from Rackham.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Imagine My Surprise Kenway soon set sail again, returning to Kingston before continuing on to Príncipe, where Roberts had gone into hiding.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Trust Is Earned After freeing Roberts, he followed him to the coast of Mexico, where the two infiltrated and battled a Portuguese fleet before sailing for the Observatory, Kenway's ultimate goal.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Black Bart's Gambit
Along the way, the Jackdaw chased Hornigold's ship, the Benjamin, through a fog bank before Kenway assassinated his former friend, clearing the way to the Observatory.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Murder and Mayhem When Roberts betrayed Edward deep inside the complex, Adéwalé and the crew quickly fled without their captain.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – The Observatory It would be almost a year before Kenway would be reunited with his ship in Kingston, although Adéwalé chose not to join his captain, revealing his intentions to join the Assassin Order and suggesting that Edward do the same.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Delirium
===Alliance with the Assassins===
Shortly thereafter, the vessel returned again to Tulum, where Edward allied himself with the Assassins and received three targets: Woodes Rogers, Laureano Torres, and Roberts. The Jackdaws flag was replaced with one bearing an Assassin insignia, and Anne Bonny took Adéwalé's place as quartermaster.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – ...Everything Is Permitted
Edward sailed for Kingston to eliminate Rogers. In turn, the Templar revealed Roberts' location in Príncipe, where the Jackdaw sailed next. In a tremendous battle between the Jackdaw, Roberts' ship Royal Fortune, and a Spanish fleet, Kenway managed to kill Roberts and retrieve the Observatory's Crystal Skull.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Royal Misfortune
The ship then carried her captain back to Havana, where Edward discovered Torres was already on his way to the Observatory.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Tainted Blood He soon followed in hot pursuit, making his way through the jungle and the complex, before finally killing the Grand Master.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Ever a Splinter The Jackdaw then made one last trip back to Great Inagua, where Edward finally retired from piracy, deciding to care for his newly discovered daughter Jennifer Scott.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – The EndAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – How Grand, Master Kenway!
In 1722, Edward, Jennifer, and the crew left Great Inagua and sailed the Jackdaw to Bristol in the United Kingdom, stopping on one of the islands of the along the way. Near the Bristol Channel, the black flag of the Jackdaw was bought down, folded and placed carefully inside a chest in the captain's cabin. The Jackdaw then flew a Red Ensign to gain permission to dock in Bristol.
Two days later, Edward used the Jackdaw as an auxiliary when he was about to kill Matthew Hague. The former pirate imprisoned Hague in the captain's cabin of his ship, the Charlotte, after which the Jackdaws crew tossed Edward barrels of tar which he could use to set alight Hague's ship. However, Edward was interrupted by Sir Robert Walpole, who wanted to make peace between the Assassin and the Templar. The pair came to an agreement, with Edward releasing Hague and Walpole giving a pardon and small properties to the pirates.
It is unknown what happened to the Jackdaw in the intervening years, but at some point prior to 1735, Edward removed its original wheel and kept it in the basement hidden below his mansion in London, where it was used as part of a mechanism to open a secret exit.Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Playing It by Ear The brig returned to the West Indies, where she sank off the coast of Hispaniola due to unknown circumstances, though Adéwalé later recovered its figurehead from the wreckage.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Freedom Cry
==Schematics==
The Jackdaw was 60 meters long from her stern to the tip of her bowsprit, 48.5 meters high, had a width of 11.9 meters, and also had twenty-six sails. Accompanying this, the Jackdaw was armed with forty-six , four chaser cannons, and two swivel guns. Further, she could hold 160 fire barrels, deployed four at a time, 40 volleys of , and 20 mortar rounds, and was equipped with an iron-plated . Besides her weaponry, she could also hold a maximum of 2,000 pieces of each type of cargo; sugar, rum, cloth, wood, and metal.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
At her strongest, the Jackdaw possessed a sizable amount of iron-plating reinforcement across her hull, which provided ample protection in combat against a number of Men O' War. The brig was able to disable and destroy any type of ship, given the proper strategy in battle.
She was also equipped with a diving bell for exploration of various underwater wrecks, as well as a whaling rowboat and harpoons, which allowed Edward to hunt for local sea life. Her masts featured pedal-activated lifts and hooks to allow for both ascension and descent. The Jackdaw also had cleverly placed swinging ropes secured both on deck and in the cross-masts, which were used by the crew to swing from one ship to another during boarding, and to quickly leap off the ship into the ocean or onto land.
==Notable conflicts==
While the Jackdaw did not participate in any major historical battles of the era, she still had more than her fair share of legendary combat. Notable skirmishes, such as the battle which took Blackbeard's life near Ocracoke, the conflict with Hornigold's ship, the Benjamin, and the later conflict off the coast of Príncipe – in which Bartholomew Roberts was killed – were fought on the Jackdaws decks.
The ship was a formidable raider in the Caribbean, as it single-handedly outgunned and destroyed all of the naval forts around the Caribbean over time, and took down many ships, from gunboats to Men O' War, including the five legendary ships that roamed the Caribbean Sea: El Impoluto, the twin ships HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign, La Dama Negra, and HMS Prince.
*El Arca del Maestro, beached while in pursuit of Templar Julien du Casse
*El Impoluto, sunk during a skirmish
*Hercules (brig), sunk during a skirmish
*Hercules (frigate), sunk while in pursuit of the Templar Thomson Brothers
*HMS Courage, sunk during a skirmish
*HMS Defiance, sunk during a skirmish
*HMS Fearless, sunk during a skirmish
*HMS Prince, sunk during a skirmish
*La Dama Negra, sunk during a skirmish
*Royal African Pearl, captured during a skirmish
*Royal Sovereign, sunk during a skirmish
*San Lorenzo, captured during a skirmish
==Crew==
*Edward Kenway – Captain (30 July 1715 – 23 November 1718, 1719 – 1723)
*Jack Rackham – Captain (23 November 1718 – c. 23 January 1719)
*Adéwalé – Quartermaster (1715 – 1721)
*Anne Bonny – Quartermaster (1721 – 1722)
*Hanley – Quartermaster (1722 - 1723)Assassin's Creed: Black Flag 
*Birtwistle – Coxswain (1723)
==Behind the scenes==
===Upgrades===
Through crafting, Edward could upgrade the Jackdaw in a number of ways to enhance its weapons strength, hull durability, speed, cargo hold, and crew capacity, and whaling equipment.
===Ship cosmetics===
A wide variety of figureheads, sail designs and wheels are available for the Jackdaw.
====Figureheads====
Image	Name 	Description 	Availability
 	The Jackdaw's figurehead 	A figurehead that once graced the bow of Edward Kenway's ship, the Jackdaw. 	Starting figurehead
 	Aries figurehead 	A figurehead representing Aries 	500 R25 wood
 	Phoenix figurehead 	A figurehead representing a rising pheonix, a legendary but likely imaginary bird. 	800 R75 wood
 	Mermaid figurehead 	A figurehead representing a mermaid. 	1250 R150 wood
 	Gargoyle figurehead 	A figurehead representing a gargoyle. 	2000 R300 wood
 	Serpent figurehead 	A figurehead representing a serpent. 	Requires plan3500 R400 wood
 	El Impoluto's figurehead 	A figurehead representing a saint. Rumored to have belonged to El Impoluto, one of the most dangerous ships to ever sail the West Indies.	Gained by completing community challenges
 	The Queen Anne's figurehead 	A figurehead that once belonged to Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge 	Requires plan5000 R500 wood
 	The Ranger figurehead 	A figurehead which used to belong to Captain Charles Vane's ship, the Ranger 	Gained by completing half of the naval contracts.
 	The Royal Fortune's figurehead	A figurehead which used to belong to Black Bart's ship, the Royal Fortune. 	Collected by Kenway's Fleet.
 	The Aquila's figurehead 	A figurehead which would one day belong to Connor Kenway's ship, the Aquila. 	Gained by plundering three royal convoys.
 	Elite figurehead 	A figurehead representing a Harpy, standard symbol of elite warships. 	Redeem on Uplay
 	Death Vessel figurehead 	 	Available through the Death Vessel Pack
 	Kraken figurehead 	 	Available through the Kraken Ship Pack
 	Altaïr figurehead 	A figurehead crafted as a tribute to Altair, the Assassin. 	Available through the Crusader & Florentine Pack
 	Ezio figurehead 	A figurehead crafted as a tribute to Ezio, the Assassin. 	Available through the Crusader & Florentine Pack
 	Aveline figurehead 	Through a bit of Animus trickery, we fashioned a figurehead in tribute to Aveline, our first Abstergo Entertainment hero. 	Aveline DLC
 	The Black Ship's figurehead 	A figurehead that once belonged to the Black Ship 	Black Island
 	The Revenge's figurehead 	A figurehead that once belonged to Stede Bonnet's ship, the Revenge. 	Mystery Island
====Sails====
Image	Name 	Description 	Availability
 	White sails 	A set of clean, white canvas sails. 	Starting sails
 	Crimson sails 	A set of red canvas sails. 	500 R25 cloth
 	Red-striped sails 	A set of white canvas sails adorned with red stripes. 	800 R75 cloth
 	Tattered sails 	A set of tattered sails. 	1250 R150 cloth
 	Leather sails 	A set of leather sails. 	2000R300 cloth
 	Flower sails 	A set of sails with white floral pattern. 	Requires plan3500 R400 cloth
 	Black and Red sails 	A set of black sails adorned with red and white stripes. 	Gained by completing community challenges.
 	Grey sails 	A set of grey canvas sails. 	Requires plan5000 R500 cloth
 	Diamond sails 	A set of sails bearing diamonds patterns, praised for their beauty. 	Collected by Kenway's Fleet.
 	Gilded sails 	A set of blue sails with gilded gold patterns. 	Gained by completing all naval contracts.
 	Elite's sails 	A set of sails bearing the symbol of an Elite ship. 	Redeem on Uplay
 	Queen Anne's Revenge sails	A set of sails that once belonged to Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge.	
 	The Royal Fortune's sails 	A set of sails that once propelled Black Bart's ship, the Royal Fortune. 	
 	The Benjamin's sails 	A set of sails that once propelled Benjamin Hornigold's ship, the Benjamin. 	
 	The Aquila's sails 	A set of sails that would later propel Connor Kenway's ship, the Aquila. 	
 	Death Vessel sails 	 	Available through the Death Vessel Pack
 	Kraken sails 	 	Available through the Kraken Ship Pack
 	Altaïr's sails 	A set of sails modeled after Altair ibn-La'Ahad's image. 	Available through the Crusader & Florentine Pack
 	Ezio's sails 	A set of sails modeled after Ezio Auditore da Firenze's image. 	Available through the Crusader & Florentine Pack
 	The Black Ship's Sails 	A set of sails that once propelled the Black Ship. 	Black Island
 	The Revenge's Sails 	A set of sails that once propelled Stede Bonnet's ship, the Revenge 	Mystery Island
====Wheels====
Image	Name 	Description 	Availability
 	The Jackdaw's wheel 	A wheel that once belonged to Edward Kenway's signature ship, the Jackdaw. 	Starting wheel
 	Bronze wheel 	A wheel made of bronze. 	500 R25 metal
 	Flower wheel 	A wheel altered to form a symbol of a flower. 	800 R75 metal
 	Phoenix wheel 	A wheel made of brown wood with a golden metal circlet. 	1250 R150 metal
 	Eye of the Sea wheel 	A wheel made of dark brown with metal diamonds. 	2000 R300metal
 	Blackwood wheel 	A wheel made of sturdy blackwood. 	Requires plan3500 R400 metal
 	El Impoluto's wheel 	A wheel rumored to belong to the El Impoluto, one of the most dangerous ships across the West Indies.	Gained by completing community challenges.
 	The Aquila's wheel 	A wheel that will one day belong to Connor Kenway's ship, the Aquila. 	Requires plan5000 R500 metal
 	Gilded wheel 	A wheel made of dark brown wood with inlaid rubies. 	Obtained as a reward of the Kenway’s Fleet.
 	Queen Anne's Revenge wheel	A wheel that once belonged to Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. 	Gained by completing half of the naval contracts.
 	Silver wheel 	A wheel made entirely of silver. 	
 	Elite wheel 	A wheel made of gold, symbol of elite ships. 	Redeem on Uplay
 	Death Vessel wheel 	 	Available through the Death Vessel Pack
 	Kraken wheel 	 	Available through the Kraken Ship Pack
 	Ivory wheel 	A wheel made entirely of ivory. 	Available through the Illustrious Pirates Pack
 	Iron wheel 	 	Available through the Illustrious Pirates Pack
==Trivia==
*When the Jackdaw was owned by the Spanish Navy, it was the only military-class ship with swivel guns and fire barrels, and also to have cannons on the main deck.
*Like many other references to the Assassin Order involving avians, a is a small, black bird belonging to the crow family. Coincidentally, the color of the bird's feathers themselves could also be a reference to piracy often being symbolized by black.
**Jackdaw are prominently featured in both Greek and Welsh folklore as creatures of extreme vanity and thieves of anything shiny, as well as acting as omens of death and calamity. In Aesop's fable , a jackdaw sought to become king of the birds by adorning himself with the feathers of other birds. Such tales are great illustrations of the motivations attributed to pirates like Edward Kenway.
*The former name of the ship, El Dorado, is Spanish for "the gilded one; the golden". It is also a name of a legendary city filled with treasures that several explorers and adventurers sought to find, referencing Edward's desire for fame and wealth.
*In the captain's cabin, there was a statue of a vulture near the Jackdaws rear window. There was also a bust of an unknown man in the right corner. Other cabin decorations included several flags, lanterns, a desk, and some chairs, along with a miniature model of the ship and a tailor's mannequin.
*The Jackdaw initially flew a plain black flag, then a pirate flag with just a skull, first seen in the memory "Raise the Black Flag", and afterwards for most of Jackdaw's time under Kenway's command. After Edward defended the Assassins from a Spanish raid in the memory "...Everything Is Permitted", the flag changed to include the Assassin insignia around the skull.
*At elite level, most of the Jackdaws equipment, including the swivel guns, broadside, and mortars, were plated gold. The elite hull upgrade also included liberal gold and iron plating on the ship's hull and deck.
*After defeating all legendary ships, the Jackdaw gained a charge attack, allowing her to inflict greater damage on an enemy ship.
*The Jackdaws crew was composed of mixed races and ethnicities. Sailors that joined Edward hailed from a variety of places, including Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, and several countries in Africa, among others.
*The Jackdaws sail positioning did not extend horizontally as far as the other brigs encountered in the West Indies, resembling the positioning of a frigate more closely.
*The 'Black Skull Sails' that could be obtained for the Jackdaw were referred to as the 'Jackdaw's sails' in Assassin's Creed: Rogue.
*The Jackdaw, the Experto Crede, the Morrigan, and later the Aquila all feature cannons on the top deck, even though placing them there would add too much weight to the ship and would likely cause it to sink. The cannons would also be trip hazards, as the top deck is meant for sailing purposes. It was decided to overlook this inconsistency for the Jackdaw in order to add to the sense of progression when upgrading the ship and to make it easier for players to know which cannons were being fired.
*In real life, with 46 cannons, the Jackdaw would be considered a fifth-rate frigate, by the standard classification of the Royal Navy.
*In Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide, the Jackdaw is referred to as a . This is erroneous because on a brigantine, the is ged with the sails above it ged. On a brig such as the Jackdaw, the entire mast is dominated by square rigged sails (i.e. the mainsail is also square rigged), with a small, gaff rigged fore-and-aft sail as a supplementary component.
*During Black Bart's Gambit, a player can see what level the Jackdaw is by using the spyglass while aboard of the Nosso Senhor da Comprensao, with a fully upgraded ship being level 45.
==Gallery==
AC4 - Concept Art - Ship.jpg|Concept art of the Jackdaw
AC4 Deck Exploration - Concept Art 1.jpg|Concept art of the Jackdaws deck
AC4 Deck Exploration - Concept Art 2.jpg|Alternate concept art of the Jackdaws deck
Jackdaw flag.png|The Jackdaw's flag before Edward made an alliance with the Assassins
Edward Kenway's Jolly Roger.png|The Jackdaws flag after Edward made an alliance with the Assassins
This Tyro Captain 3.png|The Jackdaw sailing the Caribbean
A Single Madman 1.png|Edward rallying his crew
The Forts 2.png|The Jackdaw engaging a fort's defenses
Do Not Go Gently 12.png|The Jackdaw escaping the attack on Ocracoke
AC4 Jackdaw Wreck.png|The Jackdaws wreck
AC4 Jackdaw.png|The Jackdaw docked in Great Inagua
ACBF DB El Dorado.png|The El Dorado
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag 
**Freedom Cry 
*Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
*Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag: Blackbeard – The Lost Journal
*Assassin's Creed: Memories 
*Assassin's Creed: Syndicate 
*Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game 
==References==
fr:Jackdaw
ja:ジャックドー号
pl:Kawka
ru:Галка
zh:寒鸦号
Category:Brigs
Category:Spanish Navy warships
Category:Pirate ships
Category:Assassin ships