Discovery of Pirate Ship’s Name Feted

Salvagers Friday celebrated their historic identification of a pirate wreck which they identified as the Whydah after chiseling corrosion off a bronze bell hauled up off the coast of Cape Cod.

Barry Clifford, head of the salvage team, said this is the first time in history that a pirate wreck has been identified and salvaged, a statement supported by archeologists. Because the Whydah carried cargo from a variety of countries and ships, Clifford said the discovery is “of enormous historical and archeological value. . . . It’s a time capsule.”

Sank in Storm in 1717

The bell’s inscription, which marine archeologists said provides a definitive identification of the wreck, reads “THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716” and has a Maltese cross between each word.

The ship went down in a storm Feb. 17, 1717, laden with treasures from 52 other ships worth an estimated $400 million.

The goods are buried under 10 feet of sand and have been “perfectly preserved” by the cold Atlantic waters, he said.

Maritime Explorations Inc. has been recovering artifacts from the wreck since August, but the moment for jubilation came Thursday when a crust of sand and corroded iron was chipped away to expose the name of the ship. “It was the culmination of a lot of long, hard work,” Clifford said.

Once Carried Slaves

The Whydah was launched by the Royal Africa Co. to carry slaves from West Africa, probably from the port city whose name it bears.

On its first voyage, the Whydah was hijacked by Samuel (Black Sam) Bellamy, just after it delivered its human cargo in Jamaica. He sailed it to the coast, plundering other ships along the way, according to local legend.

Legend has it that the ship ran aground because the pirates were drunk on captured wine.