Whydah Gally
Off Cape Cod, Massachusetts
What happened
The Whydah Gally was built in London in 1715 as a cargo and slave ship. In February 1717 pirates led by Samuel Bellamy captured it in the Caribbean and made it their flagship. On 26 April 1717 a violent storm wrecked it off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and very few people survived.
Why it matters
The discovery of its bell in 1985 made the Whydah Gally the only fully authenticated Golden Age pirate shipwreck ever found. The finds show how pirates lived and what they took from the ships they captured.
What came next
The wreck lay hidden for more than 260 years until Barry Clifford found it in 1984. Some of its objects are shown at the Whydah Pirate Museum in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts.
Did you know?
Clifford relied heavily on a map of the wreck site made in 1717 by Cyprian Southack, a local salvager and cartographer sent by the governor to recover goods from the wreck.
Timeline
- 1715The Whydah Gally is built in London.
- February 1717Samuel Bellamy's pirates capture the ship.
- 26 April 1717A storm wrecks it off Cape Cod.
- 1984Barry Clifford finds the wreck.
- 1985Divers recover the ship's bell, which proves its identity.