In the first decade of the 1800s the South China Sea became a hotbed for piracy, with the largest pirate fleet ever assembled defeating the Chinese and Portuguese navy. This fleet was led by an unlikely admiral - the prostitute turned pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao.

Sources

"Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790–1810", by Dian Murray

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E9%84%AD%E4%B8%80%E5%AB%82.jpg

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Zheng Yi Sao - the Pirate Queen of Southeast Asia