Whydah Gally
The only fully authenticated pirate treasure ship ever found—and most of it is still there.
- Category
- shipwreck
- Status
- partially recovered
- Year lost
- 1717
- Region
- Cape Cod
- Country
- United States
- Body of water
- Atlantic Ocean
The dossier
Sam Bellamy—known as 'Black Sam' and sometimes 'the Prince of Pirates'—captured the Whydah Gally in February 1717. The Whydah was a former slave ship, fast and new, and Bellamy made her his flagship. Over the following months, his fleet plundered at least 50 ships in the Caribbean and along the American coast, accumulating one of the great pirate treasures: gold dust, ivory, silver coins, jewelry, and the accumulated plunder from dozens of captured vessels. In April 1717, the Whydah was caught in a massive nor'easter off Cape Cod. She capsized and broke apart in shallow water. Bellamy and 143 of his 146-man crew drowned. Two survivors were captured, tried, and hanged in Boston. The wreck was lost—buried under shifting sand and the surf of Wellfleet. In 1984, Barry Clifford found it. The discovery was authenticated by a ship's bell inscribed with 'THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716'—the first and only time a pirate ship's identity has been definitively confirmed by physical evidence. Recovery has been ongoing for decades. Tens of thousands of artifacts have been raised: coins from 26 countries, weapons, personal effects, navigational instruments. But researchers believe the main treasure chamber—the area where the bulk of the plunder was consolidated—has still not been fully excavated. Sand migration constantly shifts the debris field. The Whydah Museum in Provincetown displays what has been found. What remains in the water may be the greatest prize of all.
Cargo and value
Gold dust, ivory, silver coins, jewelry, plunder from 50+ ships
Legal status
Active excavation permits held by Whydah Pirate Museum LLC. Massachusetts state oversight. Limited to permit holders. Research access available through formal channels.