Model of the Whydah

Last February, archaeologists in Cape Cod recovered six skeletons from the ruins of the Whydah, a British pirate ship that sank during a 1717 storm with 146 men—and a trove of treasure—on board.

A team led by Barry Clifford, who discovered the wreck in 1984, found the remains inside huge concretions, or rigid masses that form around underwater objects. Experts at the Whydah Pirate Museum in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, now plan to examine the skeletons in further detail.

These are not the first human remains revered from the wreck site. In 2017,  human bone fragments were found near the wreck of the ship.  The bones were located close to where a pistol, which possibly belonged to the ship’s captain, “Black Sam” Bellamy, had been recovered.  Forensic scientists from the University of New Haven in Connecticut compared the DNA from the bones to a DNA sample given by one of Bellamy’s living descendants in the United Kingdom and determined that the fragments were not from the pirate captain.

Now the team hopes that modern technology will allow them to identify these pirates and reunite them with any surviving descendants.

As we posted in 2018:

Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy had one of the shorter careers as a pirate, lasting roughly one year.  Nevertheless, in that time he and his crew captured at least 53 ships, valued at $137 million in 2017 dollars – making him one of the wealthiest pirates in recorded history.

Black Sam wasn’t able to enjoy his ill-gotten games, however. Bellamy’s ship the Whydah was caught in a violent nor’easter storm off Cape Cod at midnight, on April 26, 1717, and was driven onto the shoals near what is now Wellfleet, Massachusetts. All but two of the 145 men aboard were drowned, including Sam Bellamy. Bellamy was 28.

When the Whydah sank, it was said that she was carrying from four and a half to five tons of silver, gold, gold dust, and jewelry.  Of those aboard, 102 bodies were recovered and subsequently buried. There is no record that Bellamy was among the bodies recovered.

The wreck of the Whydah was discovered in 1984 and was the first pirate ship to be discovered on the American coast. 

Remains Of At Least 6 Pirates Found At Whydah Shipwreck Site Off Cape Cod

Thanks to Hedy Grant for contributing to this post.