This is the tale of The Whydah Gally, captained by Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy, one of the more notorious pirates of the 18th century. His career as a pirate was short, lasting just over a year, but he plundered at least 53 ships in that time, and was by far the wealthiest pirate ever documented.
He and the Whydah ran aground on a sand bar in a Nor' Easter, off the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, at the ripe old age of 28. He was known as "The Prince Of Pirates", likening himself to Robin Hood, because showed mercy to those on board the ships he captured. His riches were estimated at over $131 million in today's dollars by Forbes, and much, if not all of it, were aboard the Whydah when it sank in the year 1717.
Fast forward 267 years to 1984. Underwater Explorer/Treasure Hunter Barry Clifford, who grew up on Cape Cod and was lured into the life by hearing the tales of The Whydah as a boy, and finally finds the wreck, after years of searching. Cannons, doubloons, and galley items come to the surface, and then he finds the ships bell, engraved "Whydah", providing proof of it's authenticity.
Being Massachusetts, the state immediately informs him he owes 1/3 of the salvage to them, most likely to be used on bailing a Kennedy out of jail, or a junket to Hawaii for the Governor. He wins in court, and then wins the appeal, keeping the collection from being sold off in pieces, and they remain at the Whydah Pirate Museum in Provincetown, Massachusetts, with National Geographic sponsoring a traveling tour with selected pieces of artifacts.
Clifford is still finding pieces to this day, and the bulk of the plunder may still be down there. He is also searching for numerous other wrecks that supposedly sank here, that section off Cape Cod is known as "The Graveyard Of The Atlantic", for it's notorious storms, and treacherous coastline. This is the story of The Whydah Gally, a true pirate ship. Unfortunately, they have not found the rum, because it was always gone. I don't know why. Argh.............
~ And may ye remember (always) that if given the right to have been born during the Golden Age of piracy that ye would have been the most fearsome and brave of pirates to have sailed the seven seas!
irate dual:
*More importantly, his discovery of the Whydah is well-known and it serves to his credit to have preserved what remains left of the ship and it's artifacts for the sake of world history.