 Model of Whydah Gally
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Whydah Gally |
| Namesake | The African slave port Ouidah |
| Owner | Sir Humphry Morice |
| Operator | Private vessel |
| Laid down | 1715, London |
| Launched | 1716, London |
| Homeport | London |
| Fate | list error: <br /> list (help) Captured by pirates |
| Commander | Captain Lawrence Prince |
| Chased by pirates | Late Feb, 1717 Windward Passage |
| Surrendered / Captured | three days later, near the lower Bahamas |
| History | |
 Pirate | |
| Name | Whydah Gally |
| Owner | Crew of Captain/Commodore Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy |
| Acquired | late February, 1717 |
| Homeport | Blanco Islet, B.V.I. (later re-named Bellamy Cay) Caribbean Sea |
| Fate | ran aground, capsized |
| Status | Ruins under perpetual recovery and conservation; private ownership and exclusive dive rights |
| Commander | Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy |
| Wrecked | late night of 26 April 1717, Billingsgate, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Bay Colony 41°53′31″N 69°57′34″W / 41.892°N 69.9594°W |
| Discovered | 1984, by Barry Clifford |
| Authenticated | 1985, by discovery of the ship's inscribed bell and a brass placard, both inscribed with ship's name |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Galley |
| Tons burthen | 300 tons BM |
| Length | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Propulsion | Sail & oar |
| Sail plan | fully rigged, 3 masts |
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement | 150 men at launch; went down with 145 men & 1 boy (incl. 6 prisoners) |
| Armament | At launch: 18 active guns
Pirate upgrade: 28 active guns Recovered: More than 65, recovery ongoing |
| Notes | Whydah was the flagship of a 5-ship fleet which included the Marianne, Mary Anne, Anne, and Fisher |
Whydah Gally[1] /ˈhwɪdə ˈɡæli, ˈhwɪdˌɔː/ (commonly known simply as the Whydah) was a fully rigged ship that was originally built as a passenger, cargo, and slave ship. 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.
Bellamy sailed Whydah Gally up the coast of colonial America, capturing other ships as he went along. On 26 April 1717, Whydah Gally was caught in a violent storm and wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Only two of Whydah Gally'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.
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. 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.[2]
- ^ Or Whidah, and rarely, written as Whidaw (Strong 1836), or Whido (Southack 1717).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
MA-SCwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).