Whydah Pirate Museum 5.07

The Whydah Galley was launched in London
in 1715. She was designed as a slave ship,
and represented the latest technology of the
day. Equipped with the most up-to-date
weapons, she was fast and easy to
maneuver, essential qualities if she were to
cross the Middle Passage as quickly as
possible to minimize the loss of human
cargo. She had a three-masted sailing rig, but
was also fitted out for rowing.

The lower decks could hold hundreds of
captives and had large galleys with
provisions to feed them. All of these
features—size, speed, weaponry—made
slave ships very attractive to pirates.

In time, pirates would turn their
attention to the lucrative slave trade, attacking
slaving ships off the West African coast.
It was this that eventually led to the pirates’
downfall. The navies of the European powers
sought to exterminate them. But we are getting
ahead of our story.

After leaving London, the Whydah sailed
to the west coast of Africa, trading goods for
a total of 367 captives. Of these, 312
survived the Middle Passage and were sold
at the slave market in Jamaica.Weighted
down now with valuable cargo, the ship
made sail for England. But she was never to
reach her home port.

CAPTURED BY PIRATES

In February of 1717, Sam Bellamy, captain
of the pirate ship Sultana, spied the Whydah
while she was still in Bahamian waters.

Hoisting the Jolly Roger, he gave chase for three days nonstop.When Captain Lawrence
Prince realized capture was inevitable, he
lowered his colors and his sails, and
surrendered the Whydah without a fight.

The pirates lost no time in transferring
their loot from the Sultana onto their new
prize. They quickly repositioned more
weaponry, placing cannons both on the
upper deck and below. To make the ship less
top heavy, the pirates probably leveled the
upper deck by clearing off cabins and other
structures. Thus was a slave ship transformed
into a pirate ship.

As was their custom, the pirates invited
the crew of the Whydah to join them. A few
did, but those who declined were freed with
Captain Prince to sail away, unharmed, on
the Sultana. This may seem surprising, but
there is much about the pirate way of life
that runs counter to the modern stereotype,
as we will soon see.

Bellamy’s Voyage

On a spectacular looting voyage through the
Caribbean, Bellamy captured more than 50
prizes. Laden with booty—perhaps as much
as 4.5 tons of treasure—the Whydah set
course for New England, where legend says
Bellamy intended to pick up his lady-love,
Maria Hallett. But on April 26, 1717, a
violent nor’easter off the coast of Cape Cod
sent the pirate ship to a watery grave where
its treasures remained undiscovered for
nearly 300 years.

LIFE AT SEA
Sailors, Seamen, and Pirates

This was the so-called “Golden Age of
Piracy,” from about 1660 to 1730, a
brief but action-packed period of history.
Pirates were outlaws who pledged
allegiance to no country and ravaged
ships of all nations indiscriminately. They were ruthless opportunists with nothing
to lose—except their lives. The penalty for
piracy was hanging.

Onboard Democracy

Yet these outlaws evolved a kind of
seagoing democracy at a time when it was
unknown in Europe and the colonies. Upon
joining a pirate crew, new recruits signed the
Ship’s Articles. They swore an oath of loyalty
and agreed to a code of conduct. In return,
they were given an equal vote in electing the ship’s officers, an almost equal share of
the loot (the captain and quartermaster got
a larger share), and compensation for injuries
or loss of limbs. By contrast, on merchant
and naval vessels, there was a strict
hierarchical order and pitifully low wages.
To an international crew consisting of
blacks, whites, and Indians, these were the
rights and privileges unheard of at sea or
on land. It is no wonder that many willingly
signed on.

The pirates also created onboard living
conditions far superior to those on merchant
or naval ships. Because they had crews of as
many as a couple of hundred, the workload
was lighter than on merchant ships which
typically were worked by only 12–15 men.
On a merchant ship, food and clean water
were in short supply and diseases caused by
malnutrition were rampant. The officers fared
much better than the crew, however. On a
pirate ship, everyone ate and drank equally.
With frequent raids to restock supplies and
with more leisure time to catch fresh food,
the pirates ate (and drank) well.

THE RECOVERY OF THE
WRECK OF THE WHYDAH

Pounded by 40-foot waves, the Whydah ran
aground, and was battered to bits. This kind
of “exploded” wreck is very difficult to
recover. In addition, the sea floor off of Cape
Cod has a shifting sandy bottom, so the ship
and its contents were not only scattered but
also buried under 10 to 30 feet of sand. The
area is treacherous and over 3,000 ships
have gone down there in a 400-year period.
The site was also used as a firing range
duringWorldWar II, adding even more
debris to the seabed.

Barry Clifford is not put off by
challenges. He had been fascinated by the
tale of the Whydah since childhood, and
in 1983 began searching for the wreck.
It was not until 1985 that he brought up
incontrovertible evidence that the wreck
was indeed the Whydah—her bell.

Technology and Conservation

The recovery process has required the use
of some high-tech equipment, such as
lasers, CT scans, x-rays, a proton precision
magnetometer, and diving gear. The work is
painstaking, and like an archaeological dig,
the area is divided into grids. Clifford and his
crew investigate one square at a time and
carefully record their findings.

They have also been careful to conserve
what they recover. Metal objects such as
cannons and coins, for example, are
encrusted in concretions, formations that
occur over time when metal disintegrates and
combines with sea salts to make a concretelike
mass. Concretions preserve the artifacts as
long as they are kept wet. Further
conservation requires a long process called
electrolytic reduction to break down the salts
without damaging the artifacts.

The Whydah is the first authenticated
pirate shipwreck ever found. Barry Clifford
and his team continue making new
discoveries. Their dedication has provided us
with a window into the past, a glimpse of
the little known life aboard ship in the
“Golden Age of Piracy.” As Clifford said, “It’s
not what you find, it’s what you find out.”