page_title: Whydah Gally
section_title: Pirate ship
hierarchical_section_title: Whydah Gally / Pirate ship
caption_attribution_description: The location of the pirate ship Whydah Gally, captained by the famous "Black Sam" Bellamy, which wrecked off the coast of in Cape Cod on April 26, 1717, killing Bellamy and all but 2 of his 145 men, and taking over 4.5 short tons (4.1 tonnes) of gold, silver, and other pirate treasure down with it. Hearing of the shipwreck, then-governor Samuel Shute dispatched Captain Cyprian Southack, a local salvager and cartographer, to recover "Money, Bullion, Treasure, Goods and Merchandizes taken out of the said Ship." By May 3, when Southack reached the location of the wreck, he found that a part of the ship was still visible breaching the water's surface and much of the ship's wreckage were scattered along more than four miles (6 km) of shoreline. He created this map (Whydah-map.jpg) of the wreck site, and reported that he had buried 102 of the Whydah crew and captives that had washed ashore. They had not found any significant treasure, but he wrote, "The riches and the guns would be buried in the sand." The sunken treasure remained little more than a local legend until the wreck was discovered in 1984, the first pirate ship wreck ever discovered in North America.
context_page_description: The Whydah Gally was a fully rigged galley ship that was originally built as a passenger, cargo, and slave ship. On the return leg of its maiden voyage of the triangle trade, the Whydah was captured by the pirate Captain Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy, beginning a new role in the Golden Age of Piracy.
  Bellamy sailed the Whydah up the coast of colonial America, capturing other ships as he went along. On 26 April 1717, the Whydah was caught in a violent storm and wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Only two of Whydah's crew survived, along with seven others who were on a sloop captured by Bellamy earlier that day. Six of the nine survivors were hanged, two who had been forced into piracy were freed, and one Indian crewman was sold into slavery.
  The Whydah and her treasure of captured pirate gold eluded discovery for over 260 years until 1984, when the wreck was found off the coast of Cape Cod, buried under 10 ft to 50 ft feet of sand, in depths ranging from 16 ft to 30 ft feet deep, spread for four miles, parallel to the Cape's easternmost coast.
context_section_description: In late February 1717, the Whydah, under the command of Captain Lawrence Prince, a former buccaneer under Sir Henry Morgan, was navigating the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola when it was attacked by pirates led by "Black Sam" Bellamy. At the time of the Whydah's capture, Bellamy was in possession of two vessels, the 26-gun galley Sultana and the converted 10-gun sloop Marianne, captained by Bellamy's friend and investor Paulsgrave Williams. After a three-day chase, Prince surrendered his ship near the Bahamas with only a desultory exchange of cannon fire.
  Bellamy decided to take the Whydah as his new flagship; several of its crew remained with their ship and joined the pirate gang. Pirate recruitment was most effective among the unemployed, escaped bondsmen, and transported criminals, as the high seas made for an instant leveling of class distinctions. They were freed African slaves, displaced English seamen, Native Americans, and a scattering of social outcasts from Europe and elsewhere.
  In a gesture of goodwill toward Captain Prince who had surrendered without a struggle—and who in any case may have been favorably known by reputation to the pirate crew—Bellamy gave Sultana to Prince, along with £20 in silver and gold (equivalent to £3,100 in 2019).
  The Whydah was then fitted with 10 additional cannons by its new captain, and 150 members of Bellamy's crew were detailed to man the vessel. They razeed the ship by clearing the top deck of the pilot's cabin, removing the slave barricade, and getting rid of other features that made her top heavy.
  Bellamy and his crew then sailed on to the Carolinas and headed north along the eastern coastline of the American colonies, aiming for the central coast of Maine, looting or capturing additional vessels on the way. The Whydah was caught up in a storm, which heavily damaged it and broke one of its masts. Patch-ups and repairs were effected until they reached the waters near Nantucket Sound, where greater repairs were effected, possibly at Block Island or Rhode Island. At some point during his possession of the Whydah, Bellamy added another 30+ cannon below decks, possibly as ballast. Two cannons recovered by underwater explorer Barry Clifford in August 2009 weighed 800 and 1,500 pounds (360 and 680 kg), respectively.
  Accounts differ as to the Whydah's destination in her last few days. Some evidence supports local Cape Cod legend: The Whydah was headed for what is now Provincetown Harbor at the tip of Cape Cod, so that Bellamy could visit his love, Maria Hallett – the "Witch of Wellfleet". Others blame the Whydah's route on navigator error. In any case, on 26 April 1717, near Chatham, Massachusetts, the Whydah approached a thick, gray fog bank rolling across the water – signaling inclement weather ahead.
  On 26 April the pirates captured the ship Mary Anne with a hold full of Madeira wine. The captain of Mary Anne refused Bellamy's request to pilot them up the coast, so Bellamy arrested the captain and five of his crew and brought them aboard the Whydah Gally, leaving three of the original crew aboard Mary Anne. Then Bellamy sent 7 of his own men onboard of Mary Anne - one of whom was the carpenter Thomas South, who had been forced by Bellamy and his crew to make repairs; not wanting to join the pirate crew, he had been offered release by Bellamy after work was completed, but the surviving pirates later testified to the court that they had over-ruled Bellamy's decision and forced South to stay due to his much whimpering and complaining. South testified that it was his choice to accompany the 6 pirates going aboard Mary Anne in hopes of escaping, possibly by jumping overboard and swimming ashore as they drew near to the Cape. Sometime around sunset that evening, the winds completely died, and a massive fog bank made visibility virtually nil. The four ships in Bellamy's fleet lost sight of one another. Bellamy's ships Anne (captained by his quartermaster Richard Noland) and Fisher moved out to sea (eventually making it to Damariscove Island with heavy damage). Williams had t
caption: The location of the wrecked Whydah Gally in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod
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