The exciting true story of the captaincy, wreck, and discovery of the Whydah — the only pirate ship ever found — and the incredible mysteries it revealed. The 1650s to the 1730s marked the golden age of piracy, when fearsome pirates like Blackbeard ruled the waves, seeking not only treasure but also large and fast ships to carry it. The Whydah was just such a ship, built to ply the Triangular Trade route, which it did until one of the greediest pirates of all, Black Sam Bellamy, commandeered it. Filling the ship to capacity with treasure, Bellamy hoped to retire with his bounty — but in 1717 the ship sank in a storm off Cape Cod. For more than two hundred years, the wreck of the Whydah (and the riches that went down with it) eluded treasure seekers, until the ship was finally found in 1984 by marine archaeologists. The artifacts brought up from the ocean floor are priceless, both in value and in the picture they reveal of life in that much-mythologized era, changing much of what we know about pirates.

Profiles the ship Whidah, including who sailed it, where it sailed, and why it sailed, and what happened to it.

A Captivating Account of the Golden Age of Piracy, the Search for Sunken Treasure, and the Business of Underwater Exploration Bored by his successful life and obsessed with a boyhood dream of lost pirate treasure, Barry Clifford began a quest for legendary pirate Black Sam Bellamy's ship Whydah, which had supposedly wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod more than two centuries ago. Ignoring claims that he was a fool and a dreamer, Clifford pressed on, until he unbelievable found the Whydah...and then the real story begins in a spellbinding story that will capture your imagination.

Set in the early 1700s, this fictional account of the pirate Samuel Bellamy chronicles his lust for gold; for the accused witch, Mariah Hallett; and for the treasure ship, the Whydah. Sam Bellamy's simple quest to find enough lost Spanish treasure to offer Mariah a secure future quickly becomes an insatiable desire for gold. For eighteen months he sails the Caribbean under the black flag, allowing this means to an end-this sweet trade of piracy-to claim him. In February, 1717, he seizes the Whydah, a slave ship returning to England with incredible riches in her hold. With more than enough plunder to line his pockets, he turns the Whydah north to Cape Cod and his greatest prize, Mariah. While Sam is away, Mariah Hallett's secret is discovered and she is not only charged with murder, but faces accusations of witchcraft, as well. Confronting a harsh winter and an uncertain future, she struggles to survive alone on the rough Cape Cod moor that edges the sea. With unshakable faith that Sam will return to her, she walks the cliffs overlooking the wild Atlantic and watches for his ship.

When the pirate ship Whydah went down in a violent storm just off the coast of Massachusetts in 1717, she took a huge treasury of stolen gold and jewels with her. Pieces of eight have continued to wash ashore since that ill-fated voyage, luring treasure seekers and undersea salvage experts. Here is the story of this plunder, of the pirates who amassed this horde during one legendary year upon the Spanish Main, and the tragedy of their loss upon the shoals of Cape Cod. It is updated to cover salvage efforts still underway in the Whydah's deep-sea grave.Had it not been for the love of Maria Hallett, whose spirit is still said to stalk the coast, Captain Samuel "Black" Bellamy might not have risked the Whydah's return through those threatening shoals, so close to the "hanging port" of Boston. This book traces the story of those who survived the wreck only to be imprisoned and then assailed by the soul-saving Reverend Cotton Mather.This is a true adventure of the high seas; a story inextricably melded with legend of the Cape Cod coast.

This book provides a fresh interpretation of the development of the English Atlantic slave system.