BART, JEAN (1651-1702), French admiral, the son of a fisherman, saw his first service with the Dutch Navy, but on the outbreak of the war with France, entered the French naval service. Louis XIV., hearing of his exploits against the pirates of the North Sea, made him captain of a frigate in 1686. He had resource, wit, and a navigating skill which made him a terror to English commerce during the wars between Louis XIV. and William III. In 1689 he forced his way through the Anglo Dutch cruisers carrying a cargo of ammunition from Calais to Brest; in the same year he was imprisoned at Plymouth, from whence he escaped with four others, crossing to St. Malo in a yawl. In 1692 he made a daring descent on the coast of England, burning several merchant ships on the way. He is one of the heroes of the French Navy, and his native town of Dunkirk has a square named after him.
See A. Richer, Vie de Jean Bart, (Epinal, 1837) ; H. Malo, Les Corsaires, (1 912) .