1717 WHYDAH CAPE COD

WRECK OF THE 1717 WHYDAH

CAPE COD, MASSAHUSETTS

Salem, Massachusetts :

A sunken cutlass with a cargo of gold doubloons, may or may not, be booty of

an 18^th century pirate ship, but ship wreck experts say the objects raised from the Cape Cod

waters show evidence of an early and important wreck.

Shortly after Barry Clifford announced he had found the 1717 Whydah which sank

during a storm, he displayed artifacts to the Underwater Archeological Resources to prove

the coins, cannon balls and a pistols brass fingerguard were the loot of pirate Black Sam

Bellamy after 267 years under water. The coins and fingerguard will be the earliest find

in Massachusetts.

Clifford has spent two or more years combing the sandy ocean floor off Wellfleet

for the Whydah said she was exactly where a British mapmaker reported the sinking of a

three masted galley, 1500 feet off shore. The State Board quickly confirmed the find

as that of the Whydah and worth $400,000.

Before it's capture by pirates 3 February 1717, the Whydah was a British vessel

sailing between England, Africa, Caribbaean Islands and the American colonies and at

the time she sank was carrying cargo including 180, 5 pound sacks of coins , 4-1/2 tons of

gold and silver. Clifford will not be allowed to take up the ship until he has full approval

by next summer.

Clifford holds title to the ship wreck by a 1983 Federal Judge ruling.

Abstract: Sunday Morning News , Wilmington, Delaware, 29 July, 1984.