View source for Whydah Gally

{{Short description|Pirate ship of Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin |display title=ital}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Whydah-model.jpg
|Ship caption= Model of ''Whydah Gally''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|civil}}
|Ship name=''Whydah Gally''
|Ship namesake= The African slave port [[Ouidah]]
|Ship owner= Sir Humphry Morice
|Ship operator= Private vessel
|Ship builder=
|Ship original cost=
|Ship laid down= 1715, [[London]]
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship launched= 1716, [[London]]
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship homeport= London
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Captured by pirates
| label1 = Commander
| data1 = Captain Lawrence Prince
| label2 = Chased by pirates
| data2 = Late Feb, 1717<br />[[Windward Passage]]
| label3 = Surrendered /<br />Captured
| data3 = three days later, near the lower [[Bahamas]]
}}
|
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Pirate
|Ship flag=[[File:Flag of Edward England.svg|60px]]
|Ship name=''Whydah Gally''
|Ship owner=Crew of Captain/Commodore Samuel Bellamy
|Ship acquired=late February, 1717
|Ship fate= ran aground, capsized
|Ship homeport=Blanco Islet, [[B.V.I.]] (later re-named [[Bellamy Cay]]) [[Caribbean Sea]]
|Ship status=Ruins under perpetual recovery and conservation; private ownership and exclusive dive rights
{{Infobox|child=yes
| label1 = Commander
| data1 = [[Samuel Bellamy]]
| label2 = Wrecked
| data2 = late night of 26 April 1717, [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts|Billingsgate]], [[Cape Cod]], [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] {{coord|41.892|-69.9594|display=title}}
| label3 = Discovered
| data3 = 1984, by [[Barry Clifford]]
| label4 = Authenticated
| data4 = 1985, by discovery of the ship's inscribed bell and a brass placard, both inscribed with ship's name
}}
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[Galley]]
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|110|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam=
|Ship draft=
|Ship propulsion=Sail & oar
|Ship sail plan=fully rigged, 3 masts
|Ship speed={{convert|13|kn}}
|Ship range=
|Ship tons burthen=300 tons [[Builder's measure|BM]]
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=150 men at launch; went down with 145 men & 1 boy (incl. 6 prisoners)
|Ship armament=At launch: 18 active guns
Pirate upgrade: 28 active guns
Recovered: More than 65, recovery ongoing
|Ship notes=Whydah was the flagship of a 5-ship fleet which included the ''Marianne'', ''Mary Anne'', ''Anne'', and ''Fisher''
}}
|}
'''''Whydah Gally'''''<ref>Or '''''Whidah''''', and rarely, written as '''''Whidaw''''' ({{harvnb|Strong|1836}}), or '''''Whido''''' ({{harvnb|Southack|1717}}).</ref> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|hw|ɪ|d|ə|_|ˈ|ɡ|æ|l|i|,_|ˈ|hw|ɪ|d|ˌ|ɔː}} (commonly known simply as the '''''Whydah''''') was a [[full-rigged ship|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 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 {{convert|10|–|50|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} of sand, in depths ranging from {{convert|16|–|30|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} 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.<ref name="MA-SC"/>

==Slave ship==
''Whydah Gally'' was commissioned in 1715 in [[London]], England, by [[Humphry Morice (Governor of the Bank of England)|Sir Humphrey Morice]], a [[member of parliament]] (MP), who was known as 'the foremost London slave merchant of his day'.<ref>1985 gathering of Atlantic Slave Trade Scholars at the University of Nantes</ref> A [[square-rigged]] three-masted galley ship, she measured {{convert|110|ft|m}} in length, with a [[tonnage]] rating at 300 [[tun (unit)|tun]]s [[Builder's Old Measurement|burthen]], and could travel at speeds up to {{convert|13|kn}}.<ref name="Woodard">{{cite book|first=Colin|last=Woodard|title=The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought The Men Who Brought Them Down}}</ref>

Christened ''Whydah Gally'' after the [[West Africa]]n slave-trading [[Kingdom of Whydah]], the vessel was configured as a heavily armed trading and transport ship (which included the [[Atlantic slave trade]]). 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. After traveling down the West African coast, through modern-day [[Gambia]] and [[Senegal]] to [[Nigeria]] and [[Benin]], where its namesake port was located,<ref name="bornslaveship">{{cite web|title=The Slave Ship ''Whydah'': Born a Slave Ship |url=http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/slaveship.asp|website=The Field Museum|access-date=12 October 2012|location=Chicago, Illinois|year=2009}} "Real Pirates" museum exhibit website</ref> she left Africa with an estimated 500 slaves,<ref>Kenneth J. Kinkor, Project Historian, Whydah Pirate Museum</ref> gold, including [[Akan people|Akan]] jewelry, and [[ivory]] aboard. 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.<ref name="slaveeconomy">{{cite web |title=The Slave Ship ''Whydah'': A Slave-Based Economy |url=http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/slaveship_2.asp |website=The Field Museum|access-date=12 October 2012|location=Chicago, Illinois|year=2009}} "Real Pirates" museum exhibit website</ref> She was fitted with a standard complement of 18 six-pound [[cannon]]s, which could be increased to a total of 28 in time of war.<ref name="Woodard"/>

==Pirate ship==
In late February 1717, ''Whydah Gally'', under the command of Captain Lawrence Prince ([[Lawrence Prince|not to be confused with]] the [[buccaneer]] who served under [[Sir Henry Morgan]]), was navigating the [[Windward Passage]] between [[Cuba]] and [[Hispaniola]] when she was attacked by pirates led by [[Samuel Bellamy]]. At the time of ''Whydah Gally''{{'}}s capture, Bellamy was in possession of two vessels, the 26-gun galleon ''Sultana'' and the converted 10-gun [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] ''Marianne'', captained by Bellamy's friend and investor [[Paulsgrave Williams]].<ref name="Woodard"/> After a three-day chase, Prince surrendered his ship near the Bahamas with only a desultory exchange of cannon fire.

Bellamy decided to take ''Whydah Gally'' as his new flagship; several of her 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&mdash;and who in any case may have been favorably known by reputation to the pirate crew&mdash;Bellamy gave ''Sultana'' to Prince, along with £20 in silver and gold ({{Inflation|UK|20|1717|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-2}}).{{Inflation/fn|UK}}<ref name="Woodard"/><ref name="DowEdmonds1923">{{cite book|last1=Dow|first1=George Francis|author-link1=George Francis Dow|last2=Edmonds|first2=John Henry|title=The pirates of the New England coast, 1630–1730|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kEftr23bFAC&pg=PA121|access-date=26 May 2015|year=1923|publisher=Argosy-Antiquarian|pages=121|isbn=0-486-29064-6}}</ref>

[[File:Flag of Edward England.svg|thumb|right|305px|alt=black flag with traditional skull and crossbones|''"...they spread a large black flag, with a Death's Head and Bones across, and gave chase to [[Lawrence Prince|Cap't. Prince]] under the same colors."''&nbsp;– Thomas Baker (Bellamy's crew) on Whydah pursuit<ref name="piratestrategy">{{cite web|title=The Pirate Ship ''Whydah'': Pirate strategy|url=http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/pirateship_3.asp |publisher=The Field Museum|access-date=21 January 2013|location=Chicago, Illinois|year=2009}} work="Real Pirates" museum exhibit website.</ref>]]

''Whydah Gally'' was then fitted with 10 additional cannons by its new captain, and 150 members of Bellamy's crew were detailed to man the vessel.<ref name="Strong1">{{cite book |last=Strong|first=Ezra|title=The Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates, Their Trials and Executions, Including Correct Accounts of the Late Piracies, Committed in the West Indias, and the Expedition of Commodore Porter|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|year=1836|pages=298|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufabWl1cXm0C&pg=RA8-PA127|quote=They immediately mounted this galleon with 28 guns, and put on board 150 hands, of different nations...Bellamy was declared captain, and the vessel had her old name continued, which was Whidaw... (p.127)}}</ref> 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.<ref name="whydahcapture">{{cite web |title=The Pirate Ship ''Whydah'': The ''Whyda's'' capture |url =http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/pirateship.asp |website=The Field Museum |access-date=21 January 2013|location=Chicago, Illinois |year=2009}} "Real Pirates" museum exhibit website.</ref>

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. ''Whydah Gally'' 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 ''Whydah Gally'', Bellamy added another 30+ cannon below decks, possibly as ballast.<ref name="Haggerty1">{{Cite journal |title=Yet more booty turns up at pirate wreck |last=Haggerty |first=Ryan |date=2007-07-18 |journal=[[The Boston Globe]] |url= http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/07/18/yet_more_booty_turns_up_at_pirate_wreck/ |quote=''Still, the discovery of the cannons -- all of which were taken from ships captured by the Whydah -- surprised (underwater explorer Barry) Clifford, who had already recovered most of the Whydah's 22 to 28 original cannons. "We had no idea that there were 30 extra cannon on board this ship," Clifford said. "Every time we go down there, we find another tip of another iceberg."''}}</ref> Two cannon recovered by underwater explorer [[Barry Clifford]] in August 2009 weighed {{convert|800|and|1500|lb|kg|abbr=out}}, respectively.

{{Quote box2
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|quote=<poem>''They could not wipe out the North-East gales''
''Nor what those gales set free —''
''The pirate ships with their close-reefed sails,''
''Leaping from sea to sea.''</poem> |source=<small>{{mdash}}[[Rudyard Kipling]], ''"The Pirates of England"''</small><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kipling |first=Rudyard |author2=Kipling Collection (Library of Congress) |title=Three Poems |date=1911 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=London |url= http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/25820805 |access-date=22 November 2012 }}.</ref>}}
Accounts differ as to ''Whydah Gally''{{'}}s destination in her last few days. Some blame ''Whydah Gally''{{'}}s route on navigator error. In any case, on 26 April 1717, near [[Chatham, Massachusetts]], ''Whydah Gally'' approached a thick, gray fog bank rolling across the water—signaling inclement weather ahead.<ref name="CliffordPerry2000">{{cite book |last1=Clifford |first1=Barry |author-link1=Barry Clifford |last2=Perry |first2=Paul |title=Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=c_HtSqtliIkC&pg=PA261 |access-date=22 November 2012 |date=3 May 2000 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-092971-8 |page=261 |orig-year=1999 |quote=Quartermaster Nolan, who was now in charge of ''Mary Anne'', came under the stern of ''Whydah Gally'' to report that land had been sighted under the growing mist. Bellamy immediately ordered a northerly course to skirt the land rather than a northeastern course to get away from it, another sign that he intended to stop in Provincetown and was underestimating the potential force of what now appeared to be a gathering storm.}} Note that Nolan was actually in charge of the captured prize ship ''Anne Galley'', not ''Mary Anne''.</ref>

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 ''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 turned ''Marianne'' away earlier, putting into [[Block Island]] to visit relatives but agreeing to meet Bellamy later off Maine.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sandler|first1=Martin W.|title=The Whydah: a Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found|date=2017|publisher=Candlewick Press|location=Somerville MA|isbn=9780763680336|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gf_0vQAACAAJ&q=Williams|access-date=7 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Whydah-map.jpg|thumb|left|The location of the [[shipwreck|wrecked]] ''Whydah Gally'' in [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts]], on [[Cape Cod]]]]

{{anchor|sinking|Sinking}}

== Shipwreck ==
That weather turned into a violent [[nor'easter]], a storm with [[gale force]] winds out of the east and northeast, which forced the vessel dangerously close to the [[breaking wave]]s along the [[shoals]] of Cape Cod. The ship was eventually driven aground at what today is [[Marconi Beach]] at [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts]]. At midnight she hit a sandbar, bow first in {{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=out|0}} of water about {{convert|500|ft|m|abbr=out|0}} from shore. Pummeled by {{convert|70|mph|adj=on|abbr=on}} winds and {{convert|30| to |40|ft|adj=on|abbr=on|0}} waves, the main mast snapped, pulling the ship into about {{convert|30|ft|abbr=on|0}} of water, where she violently capsized,<ref name="Webster1">{{Cite journal|last=Webster|first=Donovan|date=May 1999|title=Pirates of the ''Whydah''|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/whydah/story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508030733/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/whydah/story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 May 1999|journal=[[National Geographic Magazine]]|quote=Bellamy signaled his fleet to deeper water, but it was too late for the treasure-laden ''Whydah Gally'''. Trapped in the surf zone within sight of the beach, the ship slammed stern first into a sandbar and began to break apart. When a giant wave rolled her, her cannon fell from their mounts, smashing through overturned decks along with cannonballs and barrels of iron and nails. Finally, as the ship's back broke, she split into bow and stern, and her contents spilled across the ocean floor.}}</ref> sending over {{convert|4.5|ST|lk=on|abbr=off}} of silver and gold, more than 60 cannons and 144 people to the ocean floor. The 60+ cannon on board ripped through the overturned decks of the ship and quickly broke her apart, scattering parts of the ship, 102 human bodies, and thousands of objects over a {{convert|4|mi|km|adj=on|abbr=out}} length of coast. One of the two surviving members of Bellamy's crew, Thomas Davis, testified in his subsequent trial that "In a quarter of an hour after the ship struck, the Mainmast was carried by the board, and in the Morning she was beat to pieces."

By morning, hundreds of Cape Cod's notorious [[wrecking (shipwreck)|wreckers]] (locally known as "moon-cussers") were already plundering the remains. Hearing of the shipwreck, 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." When Southack reached the wreck on 3 May, he found that part of the ship was still visible breaching the water's surface, but that much of the ship's wreckage was scattered along more than {{convert|4|mi|km|abbr=out}} of shoreline. On a map that he made of the wreck site, Southack reported that he had buried 102 of the 144 ''Whydah Gally'' crew and captives lost in the sinking (though technically they were buried by the town coroner, who surprised Southack by handing him the bill and demanding payment).<ref name="SouthackMap">{{cite map |title=Untitled Map |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Whydah-map.jpg |year=1717 |first=Cyprian |last=Southack |author-link=Cyprian Southack |access-date=8 October 2012 |quote="The Place where I came through with a Whale Boat being ordered by ye Governmt. to look after ye Pirate Ship Whido Bellame Command[e]r. cast away ye 26 of April 1717 where I buried One Hundred & Two Men Drowned."}}</ref>

''Mary Anne'' was also wrecked, ten miles south at Pochet Island. According to surviving members of the crew at the time of her sinking, ''Whydah Gally'' carried from four and a half to five [[ton]]s of silver, gold, gold dust, and jewelry, which had been divided equally into 180 {{convert|50|lb|adj=on|0}} sacks and stored in-between the ship's decks.<ref name="piratetrial"/> Though Southack did salvage some nearly worthless items from the ship, little of the massive treasure hoard was recovered. Southack wrote in his account of his findings, that, "The riches, with the guns, would be buried in the sand."<ref name="Movie-Prince">{{Cite episode
|title=Pirate Treasure Hunters
|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE7FRGTx9_w
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511072959/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE7FRGTx9_w&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2012-05-11 | url-status=dead|series=National Geographic Special Presentation
|network=[[National Geographic Channel]]
|airdate=7 January 2008
|minutes=93:45
}}</ref> With that, the exact location of the ship, its riches and its guns were lost, and came to be thought of as nothing more than legend.

==Survivors==
Of the 146 souls aboard ''Whydah Gally'', only two men—the ship's pilot, 16-year-old [[Miskito people|Miskito]] Indian [[John Julian]],<ref name="motletcrew">{{cite web |title=Life aboard the ''Whydah'': A Motley Crew |url= http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/lifeaboard.asp |website=The Field Museum |access-date=21 January 2013 |location=Chicago, Illinois |year=2009}} "Real Pirates" museum exhibit website</ref> and Welsh carpenter Thomas Davis—are known to have made it to the beach alive. All seven of Bellamy's men on board ''Mary Anne'' survived, as did ''Mary Anne''<nowiki/>'s three original crewmen. Including the seven men aboard ''Mary Anne'', nine of Bellamy's crew survived the wrecking of the two ships. They were all quickly captured by Justice Joseph Doane and his posse and locked up in [[Old Jail (Barnstable, Massachusetts)|Barnstable Gaol]]. On 18 October 1717, six were tried in [[Boston]] for piracy and robbery. The following were found guilty and sentenced to death by [[hanging]]: John Brown of Jamaica, Thomas Baker and Hendrick Quintor of the Netherlands; Peter Cornelius Hoof of Sweden; John Shaun of France; and Simon van der Vorst of New York.<ref name="Mather1717">{{cite book|last=Mather|first=Cotton|author-link=Cotton Mather|title=Instructions to the Living, from the Condition of the Dead: A Brief Relation of Remarkables in the Shipwreck of Above One Hundred Pirates, who Were Cast Away in the Ship Whido, on the Coast of New-England, April 26. 1717. And in the Death of Six, who After a Fair Trial at Boston, Were Convicted & Condemned, Octob. 22. And Executed, Novemb. 15. 1717. With Some Account of the Discourse Had with Them on the Way to Their Execution. And a Sermon Preached on Their Occasion|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N01600.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext|access-date=26 May 2015|year=1717|location=American Imprint Collection (Library of Congress)}}</ref>

Carpenters Thomas South and Thomas Davis, who were tried separately, had been [[conscript]]ed by Bellamy—forced to choose between a life of piracy or death. Therefore, they were acquitted of all charges and spared the [[gallows]]. John Julian was not tried, but instead was sold as a slave (to the great-grandfather of [[John Quincy Adams]]) after his capture and finally hanged 16 years later.<ref name="Mather1717"/>

On 15 November 1717, the famous [[Puritan]] minister [[Cotton Mather]] accompanied the six condemned men as they were rowed across [[Boston Harbor]] to [[Charlestown, Massachusetts|Charlestown]]. All six men confessed and repented in the presence of Mather, but they were still hanged.<ref name="piratetrial">{{cite web |title=The ''Whydah's'' Loss: The Pirate's Trial |url= http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/whydahsloss_1.asp |website=The Field Museum |access-date=21 January 2013 |location=Chicago, Illinois|year=2009}} "Real Pirates" museum exhibit.</ref><ref name="Mather1717"/>

[[File:Whydah-gold.jpg|thumb|305px|right|Silver from the pirate ship ''Whydah Gally''. ''"The riches, with the guns, would be buried in the sand."'']]

==Recovery==
[[Barry Clifford]] found the ''Whydah Gally''{{'}}s wreck in 1984, relying heavily on Southack's 1717 map of the wreck site—a modern-day, true-to-life "pirate treasure map" leading to what was at that time a discovery of unprecedented proportions. That ''Whydah Gally'' had eluded discovery for over 260 years became even more surprising when the wreck was found under just {{convert|14|ft}} of water and {{convert|5|ft}} of sand.<ref name="MA-SC">{{cite court |litigants=Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Maritime Underwater Surveys, Inc. |vol=403 |reporter=Mass. |opinion=501 |court=Mass. Supreme Court |date=1988 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2602674804977561500&hl=en |access-date=15 October 2012 }}</ref>

The ship's location has been the site of extensive [[underwater archaeology]], and more than 200,000 individual pieces have since been retrieved. One major find in the fall of 1985 was the ship's bell, inscribed with the words "<small>THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716</small>". With that, ''Whydah Gally'' became the first ever pirate shipwreck with its identity having been established and authenticated beyond doubt.
[[File:Whydah-bell.jpg|thumb|left|The bell, inscribed, "''THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716''"]]

Work on the site by Clifford's dive team continues on an annual basis out of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Clifford opened The Whydah Sea-Lab & Learning Center in Provincetown after discovering the wreck and the center operated on MacMillan Pier until its move in 2016. Selected artifacts from the wreck are now displayed at The Whydah Pirate Museum in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discoverpirates.com/ |title=Home |website=discoverpirates.com}}</ref> and at Real Pirates in Salem, Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nshoremag.com/faces-places/real-pirates-museum-brings-authentic-pirate-treasure-and-stories-to-salem/|title=Real Pirates Museum Brings Authentic Pirate Treasure and Stories to Salem claim|date=8 April 2022 |access-date=2023-09-13}}</ref>

==Archaeological evidence==

Famously, the youngest known member of ''Whydah Gally''{{'}}s crew was a boy by approximately 10 or 11 years old, named [[John King (pirate)|John King]]. Young John actually chose to join the crew on his own initiative the previous November, when Bellamy captured the ship on which he and his mother were passengers. He was reported to have been so insistent, that he threatened to hurt himself or his own mother if he wasn't allowed to join Bellamy.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Deposition of Abijah Savage at Antigua — 30 Nov 1716|url=http://baylusbrooks.com/index_files/Page46036.htm|access-date=April 23, 2022|quote="He further saith, that one John King who was coming as a passenger with him from the said Island of Jamaica to the Island of Antigua deserted his sloop, and went with the Pirates and was so far from being forced or compelled thereto by them as the deponent could perceive or learn that he declared he would Kill himself if he was Restrained, and even threatned his Mother who was then on Board as a Passenger with the Deponent."}}</ref> Among ''Whydah Gally''{{'}}s artifacts recovered by Clifford was a child-sized, black, leather shoe together with a silk stocking and [[fibula]] bone, later determined to be that of a child between 8 and 11 years old.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Levenson |first=Michael |date=June 2, 2006 |title=Remains are identified as a boy pirate |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/06/02/remains_are_identified_as_a_boy_pirate/ |access-date=April 24, 2022}}</ref> His mother's account to local port authorities on what John's description was like, and especially of note, what he had been dressed in the day of his "kidnapping" by Bellamy's crew, included long silk stockings.

==Reaction==
A museum exhibition called "Real Pirates: The Untold Story of The ''Whydah'' from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship" toured the United States from 2007 to 2014. Venues included: [[Cincinnati Museum Center]], Cincinnati, OH; [[The Franklin Institute]], Philadelphia, PA; The Field Museum, Chicago, IL; Nauticus, Norfolk, VA; St. Louis, MO; Houston, TX; the [[Science Museum of Minnesota]], St. Paul, MN; and Union Station, Kansas City, MO. The venue includes videos, artifacts, educational live personal narrations to include supplementary audio programs, interactive activities, a 3/4 scale mock-up of the rear of the vessel and is supported by costumed actors portraying real-life historical pirates from the ship. A walking tour takes between 1–4 hours depending upon level of interest. The display/show is currently transitioning in preparation for exhibition in CA. In one instance ''Whydah Gally''{{'}}s brief participation in the Atlantic slave trade was a source of controversy. The [[Museum of Science and Industry (Tampa)|Museum of Science and Industry]] in [[Tampa, Florida]], announced the exhibit and linked it to the 2007 release of ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End]]''. After being criticized for trivializing the ship's role in slavery while glorifying its role in piracy, the museum canceled the exhibit.<ref>{{cite news|last=Allen|first=Greg|title=Museum Cancels Pirate Exhibit Over Slavery Issues|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6640303|access-date=12 October 2012|newspaper=National Public Radio News|date=18 December 2006}}</ref>

On 27 May 2007 a UK documentary/reality show titled ''Pirate Ship ... Live!'' followed a team of divers, including comedian [[Vic Reeves]], in live coverage of a dive at the ''Whydah Gally'' site.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8c41b731 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200322184416/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8c41b731 |url-status= dead |archive-date= 22 March 2020 |title=Pirate Ship...Live! (2007) |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=BFI |publisher=British Film Institute|access-date= 22 March 2020}}</ref>

On 7 January 2008 the National Geographic Channel aired a 2-hour documentary about the ongoing excavation of the wreck. It included detailed interviews with Clifford.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pirate Treasure Hunters|url=https://www.natgeotv.com/za/pirate_treasure_hunters/about|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322181048/https://www.natgeotv.com/za/pirate_treasure_hunters/about|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2020|work=natgeotv.com/uk|publisher=National Geographic Channel UK|date=7 January 2008 |access-date=22 March 2020}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*{{cite web |url=http://atochagold.com/TheWhydah.htm |website=atochagold.com |author=Cembrola, Bob |title=The Whydah is for Real: An Archeological Assessment |access-date=6 June 2006 |archive-date=16 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616040108/http://www.atochagold.com/TheWhydah.htm |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.s-t.com/daily/06-02/06-04-02/b02li089.htm |author=Kinkor, Kenneth J. |title=The Legend of Black Sam and the Good Ship Whydah |website=s-t.com }}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{cite web|url=https://www.natgeotv.com/za/pirate_treasure_hunters/about |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322181048/https://www.natgeotv.com/za/pirate_treasure_hunters/about |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 March 2020 |website=nationalgeographic.com|publisher=National Geographic Society|title=Pirates of the Whydah}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite book |url=http://www.whydah.com/ |title=Whydah |access-date=6 June 2006 |archive-date=30 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330180248/http://www.whydah.com/ |url-status=dead }} Official site of the expedition ''Whydah''.

{{Underwater diving|hisdiv}}
{{Pirates}}
{{Authority control}}

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