5. Pirate Ships

Pirate Ships were generally not purchased but stolen and conditioned for the purpose of piracy.  Each type of ship had different attributes. The largest were Brigs, Frigates and Galleons, while the smaller being Sloops, Schooners or Brigantines.  In the Caribbean smaller ships were preferred because they were faster, with a shorter draft, to easily hide in island inlets.  

The Black Pearl is one of the most recognizable in the world, albeit fictitious. The Pearl is a hybrid of a Galleon and East Indiaman ship. It was first known as the Wicked Wench and was resurrected from the sea floor by Davy Jones, when Jack Sparrow renamed her.

The most famous real pirate ship was Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge.  She was a French Frigate originally named the Concorde. In 1718 the ship wrecked on a sandbar. In 1996 the wreck was found off Beaufort, South Carolina and is being excavated by the Queen Anne’s Revenge Project. 

The Adventure Galley was an English ship captained by the Privateer William Kidd. Between 1696 to 1698, she travelled across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans until Kidd was caught, tried for piracy, executed then his body was displayed in a Gibbet.  In 2000 the Adventure Galley was found off Madagascar. 

The Royal Fortune was a Frigate captained by the pirate Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts from 1719 to 1722. Roberts died in battle attacking a British warship. After the battle she was towed to Port Royal, Jamaica. There a hurricane hit and sank her.  Because the Port waters are unsanitary, she has not been excavated.  

In 1717 the Whydah sank in a storm off the coast of Cape Cod with treasure from 50 looted ships.  The Whydah was a Galleon slave ship that was overrun by “Black Sam” Bellamy, who claimed the vessel as his flagship. Treasure hunter Barry Clifford discovered the ship in 1984.

In 1577 Sir Francis Drake sailed a Galleon, the Golden Hind, on his historic voyage that circumnavigated around the World.  An exact replica of the Golden Hind is available to be toured in London at the St Mary Overie’s Dock.  

At this stop view a 1800's Ship of the Line model.  Also be sure to test your Pirate Ship knowledge with the interactive Pirate Ship Types and Famous Pirate Ship match display.