![]() In late February 1717, Whydah Gally, under the command of Captain Lawrence Prince, a former buccaneer under Sir Henry Morgan, was navigating the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola when she was attacked by pirates led by "Black Sam" Bellamy. She was fitted with a standard complement of 18 six-pound cannons, which could be increased to a total of 28 in time of war. ![]() She traveled to the Caribbean, where she traded and sold the cargo and slaves for precious metals, sugar, indigo, rum, logwood, pimento, ginger, and medicinal ingredients, which were to then be transported back to England. After traveling down the West African coast, through modern-day Gambia and Senegal to Nigeria and Benin, where its namesake port was located, she left Africa with an estimated 500 slaves, gold, including Akan jewelry, and ivory aboard. She set out for her maiden voyage in early 1716, carrying a variety of goods from different businesses to exchange for delivery, trade, and slaves in West Africa. Ĭhristened Whydah Gally after the West African slave-trading Kingdom of Whydah, the vessel was configured as a heavily armed trading and transport ship (which included the Atlantic slave trade). A square-rigged three-masted galley ship, she measured 110 feet (34 m) in length, with a tonnage rating at 300 tuns burthen, and could travel at speeds up to 13 knots (24 km/h 15 mph). Whydah Gally was commissioned in 1715 in London, England, by Sir Humphrey Morice, a member of parliament (MP), who was known as 'the foremost London slave merchant of his day'. With the discovery of the ship's bell in 1985 and a small brass placard in 2013, both inscribed with the ship's name and maiden voyage date, Whydah Gally is the only fully authenticated Golden Age pirate shipwreck ever discovered. Whydah Gally 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 10–50 ft (3–15 m) of sand, in depths ranging from 16–30 ft (5–9 m) deep, spread for four miles, parallel to the Cape's easternmost coast. ![]() Six of the nine survivors were hanged, two who had been forced into piracy were freed, and one Indian crewman was sold into slavery. Only two of Whydah Gally 's crew survived, along with seven others who were on a sloop captured by Bellamy earlier that day. On 26 April 1717, Whydah Gally was caught in a violent storm and wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. On the return leg of her maiden voyage of the triangle trade, Whydah Gally was captured by the pirate Captain Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy, beginning a new role in the Golden Age of Piracy.īellamy sailed Whydah Gally up the coast of colonial America, capturing other ships as he went along. Whydah Gally / ˈ hw ɪ d ə ˈ ɡ æ l i, ˈ hw ɪ d ˌ ɔː/ (commonly known simply as the Whydah) was a fully rigged galley ship that was originally built as a passenger, cargo, and slave ship. Whydah was the flagship of a 5-ship fleet which included the Marianne, Mary Anne, Anne, and Fisher Recovered: More than 65, recovery ongoing Late night of 26 April 1717, Billingsgate, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Bay Colony Coordinates: 41★3′31″N 69★7′34″W / 41.892°N 69.9594°W / 41.892 -69.9594ġ985, by discovery of the ship's inscribed bell and a brass placard, both inscribed with ship's nameġ50 men at launch went down with 145 men & 1 boy (incl. Ruins under perpetual recovery and conservation private ownership and exclusive dive rights (later re-named Bellamy Cay) Caribbean Sea ![]() Crew of Captain/Commodore Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamyīlanco Islet, B.V.I.
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