#Whydah Galley

[piratesofnassauarchive]

Sam Bellamy - The Wealthiest Pirate

One of the more successful members of the Flying Gang, an impressive feat considering his company, Samuel Bellamy otherwise known as 'Black Sam' or 'Black Bellamy' was often seen as akin to a Robin Hood figure.

His introduction to sailing was through the Royal Navy, although he was quickly swayed to piracy through the promise of riches. Sailing under Benjamin Hornigold and Edward Teach, Bellamy eventually took over the Marianne and later still his own fully fledged galley the Whydah. This ship is especially notable because its wreck was found in 1984, making it the first authentic ship from the Golden Age of Piracy.

The Whydah's wreck contained a multitude of treasure, money and jewels, and along with the records of the era helped to cement the idea of Bellamy being the wealthiest pirate in recorded history. Despite this title, Bellamy was far from the most successful or long-lived, as he was only a Captain for approximately a year and his short stint was ended by the Whydah's shipwreck off the coast of Massachusetts. The few survivors were rounded up and taken to Boston, where they were convicted on October 22 1717 and hanged for piracy on November 15 of the same year. Sadly, the King's pardon allegedly arrived in Boston three weeks late meaning that the 9 survivors should have been offered freedom.

Bellamy's reputation amongst his crew was positive, he ran his fleet democratically and was clearly well liked. While his pirate exploits are well known, his personal life is less clear. It is widely believed he had a mistress, although there is no definitive identity, and it is facts such as her name, age and marital status are often disputed. Despite this the legend prevails that Bellamy loved a woman from Cape Cod and that he committed acts of piracy to gain favour from her parents or to perhaps run away with her. Historically accurate or not, this love story is well known and often sensationalised such as in the Netflix documentary The Lost Pirate Kingdom.

Sources:

Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Maritime Underwater Surveys, Inc., 403 Mass. 501 (Mass. Supreme Court 1988).

Clifford, Barry; Perry, Paul (3 May 2000) [1999]. Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her. HarperCollins. p. 261

The Lost Pirate Kingdom (2021). Stan Griffin. Netflix

Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents, ed. by John Franklin Jameson (Macmillan, 1923) p.303

[ashes-16-al-wallpapers]

[originalleftist]

Pirate Trivia Time:

Here are some of my favourite bits of pirate trivia:

Ann Bonny's name has been spelled "Anne" with an e for 300 years due to a error in the trial record.

The sole surviving physical description of Ann Bonny and Mary Read by an eyewitness is basically "I knew they were women because they had big breasts".

Blackbeard once ransomed the city of Charleston for syphilis medication.

There is no known record of Blackbeard killing anyone before his final battle.

The word "buccaneer" has the same origins as the word "barbecue" (the boucan, a means of preparing meat).

A buccaneer, William Dampier, introduced the word "avocado" (among others) to the English language (he was also the first person to circumnavigate the world three times).

Wrecks of at least two pirate ships have been discovered: "Black Sam" Bellamy's Whydah Galley, and Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge.

Arguably the most successful pirate of all time was a Chinese woman, Ching Shih, aka Zheng Yi Sao.

Bartholomew Roberts had perhaps the most cinematic pirate death- trading broadsides with a man of war in the middle of a tropical storm.

Yes, Stede Bonnet actually had a library on his sloop, the Revenge.

[applepies-and-starlight]

Death is not that big of a deal for Nymphs/Tempestans; you can disembowel one and if your axe is still buried in their guts their reaction will be "...uhh, do you want this back?"*

(*reactions vary)

[thecreaturecalledriza]

Making a silly little one-shot (for real this time it will stay a one-shot) incorporating my last three posts about Sam rolling up in the Whydah, John King in tow, here to steal his husband Izzy away from the Revenge.

I’m having a lot of fun making Ed and Sam be dicks to each other while the rest of the crew is just standing there like 👀👀👀

[helena-and-helena-meta]

Not me writing something no one asked for. Anyways, the Mc/reader isn't an adult, but they are originally from the modern world. The MC has a sibling/sisterly bond with the Tempesta girls. This is also all platonic.

As you sleep with Grim curled by your side, thousands of memories swirl through through you mind. One memory in particular repeats itself, the last thing you recall before arriving to the Twisted Wonderland.

In your memory, you sit by the window in you quarters on the Great Royal Fortune, the very name of the sailing frigate amuses you due to Royal Fortune naming said ship after herself. The words of said brunette-haired pirate wishing you a good night as she retreated to her own room echo in your mind. Footsteps slowly approach your door, just before you could stand, the wooden door creaks open allowing a familiar blue-haired ghost ship in.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now, MC."

You look to Mary Celeste, wondering why she's up. Mary seems to sense your confusion, she smiles softly.

"Nightmares have been keeping me up lately. I... Well, you know me and fire don't mix well."

Mary sighs, you quickly respond,

"I see, are you alright?"

You tilt your head slightly, Mary softly smiles and nods.

"Yeah... Sometimes I forget I'm a seaborne ghost and not just a ship. I may be old compared to you, but those scars are still very young."

Mary speaks, the emotions in her eyes reflecting the turmoil within her mind. You decide to tell her why you weren't sleeping.

"I couldn't sleep either, the storm we went through while fighting the Si- I mean, the Echo Fleet has me on edge. I thought I'd count the stars to try and fall asleep, just like counting sheep."

Mary softly chuckles at your words, she leaves your quarters for a few moments leaving you confused. The ghost ship returns quickly with a small and light wooden chair, most likely from her quarters.

"Mind if I join you?"

You nod as Mary hands you the blanket off your bed to ensure your body isn't chilled by her ghostly presence. You wrap your blanket around your shoulders as Mary soon sits beside you, the two of you counting stars together until you slip into a peaceful slumber, Mary having fallen asleep a few minutes after sitting down with you.

Every part of you misses the chaos, small fights, and joy aboard the Great Royal Fortune. Mary chasing Whydah around, Adventure Galley being her grumpy self, São Martinho watching the waves for danger, Golden Hind making new business plans, and Royal Fortune cheerfully talking your ear off while happily guiding the large sailing frigate through the vast ocean.

Before you can reminisce any further, you feel something poking and prodding at your face, and Grim's voice soon echoing throughout the room.

"Hench-human! Wake up! You have to feed me my tuna! I don't want to go to school without food. I won't become the greatest mage on an empty stomach!"

Grim yowls as you slowly awaken, softly yawning.

"I know, I know... I'm awake, Grim. Let me get changed and I'll feed you."

You reply as Grim rushes to the kitchen. You soon begin changing into your school, but you pause when you see something in the pants pocket of your old clothes, the clothing you were wearing when you arrived to Twisted Wonderland.

You reach your hand into the pocket and pull out the golden compass Royal Fortune had given you, the very item brings back both good and bad memories. You place the compass down to finish changing into your uniform, as soon as your finished you place the small object into your pocket and head to the kitchen where Grim is waiting impatiently.

[doks-aux]

Fic Repost: In the Wee Small Hours

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death

Characters: Izzy Hands, Sam Bellamy, original cat character

Relationships: Sam Bellamy/Izzy Hands

Rating: PG-13/Teen

Contents/Warnings: Domestic fluff (with a brief and vague allusion to the Toe Incident and other Acts of Ed)

Summary: Izzy woke up alone.

Notes: Originally intended for No Angst November 2022 (prompt: warm drink) but not completed in time. Set in a post-canon, everyone-went-to-pirate-school-together-style AU; all you really need to know is Sam is Izzy's childhood friend, now-lover and Izzy has a cat. Post-Season 2 I've made edits to the original text to incorporate some elements of the updated canon.

Word Count: 1235

Read on AO3

--

Izzy woke up alone.

This wasn’t exactly unusual. He’d slept and woken alone most nights and their subsequent mornings since being appointed Blackbeard’s first mate and gaining the associated perks--namely, his own cabin and a berth he didn’t have to share with two other crewmates at minimum. Even accounting for the night’s when he’d opted for company, squeezing in next to Fang and Ivan belowdecks on the Queen Anne or more recently above deck on the Revenge, and for the bed-hogging mouser that had claimed a portion of his space for herself the past year, that was still the majority of the last decade or two that he’d spent waking alone. So, no, it wasn’t out of the ordinary at all.

It just wasn’t expected. He’d woken the past three mornings to Sam wrapped around him like a boa constrictor and drooling in his hair, and he’d had every presumption of doing so again today and each following day for the foreseeable future. The Revenge was currently sailing with the Whydah Gally en route to another of Edward and Bonnet’s harebrained “adventures,” giving Sam the excuse to hop over to the formers’ ship and stitch himself to Izzy’s side twenty-four hours a day (probably half the reason he’d been so encouraging of this little detour in the first place). It had become routine already: Izzy rising early and sliding himself out from under Sam’s comforting weight, leaving his lover to sleep another hour or so while he began the day, brewing himself coffee in the galley, and then stepping out on deck to relieve the night watch and enjoy the quiet break of dawn with only the cat at his heels for company.

It was downright domestic, and he’d quite gotten to like it. But today he was alone. No Sam at his side, no cat across his ankle, and only the blue-gray twilight outside his tiny window to let him know he hadn’t overslept.

He didn’t have time to be more than curious about it before the door to his cabin creaked open, years of conditioning (and more recent happenings) having him fully alert and clutching the knife under his pillow within the instant. A figure loomed tall in the doorway, staggering to a stop and clutching something close to its chest. It lifted its head to peer at Izzy through a tangle of long, black hair.

“...Sam.” Izzy sagged in relief, relaxing his grip on his knife and dropping his cheek against his pillow. “Fuck are you doing up?”

Sam, swaying listlessly, gave a full-body grunt at being addressed and shuffled stiff-legged into the room, escorted by Izzy’s errant feline. The Bell Witch chirruped merrily as she darted between Sam’s unsteady feet a few times just for the sport of it before leaping onto the bed and bumping her face insistently against Izzy’s.

“Right, alright, you little monster. Good morning.” Gently shoving the cat back, Izzy squirmed upright, kicking free of the blanket and swinging his thighs over the edge of the mattress to meet Sam as he reached the bedside, absently rubbing the stiffness from his residual leg. “And you. Did the Witch get you up? Never seen you conscious at this hour.” His gaze fell to the thing Sam held, unable to make it out by the still dim light. “What you got there?”

A softer grunt answered him this time, and Sam pressed forward, passing his prize into Izzy’s hands.

“C’rf’l,” he slurred, patting Izzy’s fingers as he wrapped them around the tin cup. “S’hot.”

The smell of fresh, strong coffee wafted up from their hands, and Izzy’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. Getting a better look at Sam’s face, it seemed “conscious” had been a generous assumption. His lover’s eyes were bleary and barely open, and he still wavered dangerously on his feet, half-awake at best. How he’d managed to make his way to the galley and back in this state, much less successfully make coffee, Izzy hadn’t the foggiest. Sam had never been an early bird. He’d acclimated to a sailor’s schedule by necessity and with no shortage of mulishness. Izzy recalled at least three separate mornings in their shared youth when the bosun had stormed in to personally flip Sam out of his hammock. Briefly reprieved of captainly duties while aboard the Revenge, he’d been reveling in sleeping in just that little bit more than he’d been able to in years.

But not today. Today he had woken up before even Izzy and dragged himself barely coherent down to the galley to make coffee. For Izzy. So that he wouldn’t have to.

Izzy looked down at the cup wrapped in his hands, at Sam’s hands wrapped around those, and swallowed against the sudden tightness of his throat.

“...Thanks.”

It was all he could think to say in the moment, but it seemed enough for Sam.

“Mmm...” He bumped his face against Izzy’s much like the cat had and gave him a pleased smile. “...G’night.”

And then he turned and collapsed face-first into bed, asleep before he hit the pillow. The Bell Witch leapt out of the way with a yowl, turning in an indignant circle before hopping onto his bare back to begin pointedly kneading.

Izzy remained sitting at the edge of the bed, the heat from the coffee seeping steadily into his hands and up his arms, warming him to his chest. Or maybe it was staring at Sam that was doing it: dead to the world, hair caught in his half-open mouth, and the most beautiful man Izzy had ever seen.

The Izzy of a year ago would have been embarrassed (and the Izzy of later today might be as well) by how badly he was tempted to crawl back into bed with Sam, to tuck himself securely into the cradle of his body and sleep just a little more, indulge in his presence as long as he could. There was only so often they could be together, only so many excuses they could reasonably find for their ships to meet, so many detours they could make. And Izzy would need every moment he could steal with Sam to tide him over until the next one.

But work was work, and Buttons was expecting to be relieved. He’d be needing some sleep himself after a full night of whatever the fuck it was he and the moon got up to. Izzy was needed.

Maybe next time.

Taking a gulp of the still quite hot coffee, Izzy let it scald his mouth just enough to rouse him from his woolgathering and to his feet--one in the traditional place and the other set with care in easy reach. He dressed in the dark so as not to disturb Sam and lingered once more by the bed before leaving. The cat had made herself comfortable on Sam’s back, curled up and purring loudly as she blinked her one green eye at Izzy.

“Keep him warm for me, Bell,” Izzy said, smiling as she stretched up to meet the knuckles he gently ground against her scalp. He used the same hand to tug the hair from Sam’s mouth and bent to brush a kiss to his temple.

“See you after sunrise, Sammy.”

Closing the cabin door quietly behind him, Izzy took a slow, savoring drink of his coffee and headed above deck to watch the morning come in.

[something-about-sunflowers]

Fuck it, giving Izzy my chronic fatigue.

Wasn’t as bad when he was younger and he had Ed, Jack, maybe Sam to help him out when it gave him trouble.

Then Ed’s the captain and Izzy’s the first mate so they can work around his increasing issues to the point where they really don’t crop up but once in a blue moon.

Once they’re on the Revenge tho things get bad cause nobody else is doing the work and Izzy would like to not die so he picks up a lot of the slack. He pushes through but he’s flagging pretty hard, it’s why the Revenge crew gets the drop on him for the mutiny, he was resting cause he thought being in charge would mean it was safe to do. Also why Ed didn’t wake him til the toe came off, he’d otherwise be too paranoid post mutiny attempt to sleep that deeply (even with Ed back on board calling the shots) but he started stressing again and had to work extra hard in between Ed’s mood and the crew still not wanting to do any work.

During the reign of the Kraken he’s dead on his feet at all times, he’s maybe running on reserve adrenaline but that’s rapidly decreasing.

Once Stede comes back and the captains make up he crashes hard. He spends at least a week in bed and hates himself for it. He can’t find the energy to get to the galley for food, barely manages the few trips to the chamber pot (few because he’s not really got anything in him to empty out).

Ed’s still in a weird place with him so he thinks they’re just avoiding each other, most of the crew thinks so too, though they are starting to get concerned.

. . . This is getting too sad for me so it’s now cjizzy time so I can make it happier lmfao.

Jack finds them with the purpose of bitching at Ed and Stede for almost getting him killed (he simply does not blame Izzy ❤), figures out Izzy’s not been on deck for over a week and that he’s having a really bad episode, proceeds to bitch at the rest of the crew too for not figuring it out and helping him because: ‘Ain’t this supposed to be like, the friendship boat or some shit? Thought you fuckers looked after your own!’ Ed, Stede, and the rest of the crew apologize to Izzy and promise to do better by him.

Jack then takes care of Izzy til he manages to rest up enough that he only needs help with most things instead of everything, teaches the rest of the crew how to spot when he’s flagging and how to convince him to let them help or to get some rest (with the help of Wee John, he also has some measure of chronic fatigue 😌), threatens to kidnap Izzy over to the Kingston if Ed doesn’t get his shit together, ‘Anne and Mary’d be happy to have him and you know it Eddie!’ Winds up staying on board because that’s his babygirl and he wants to make sure he’s alright and taken care of when he can’t do it for himself, thought they do make the occasional visit to Anne and Mary on the Kingston cause they really do love Izzy too. Also visit Sam on the Whydah cause he also loves Izzy. And Jackie. My point is Izzy gets all the love and care. That’s all.

[noknowshame]

visiting the beach on the coast of Cape Cod where the Whydah Galley wrecked in 1717 (RIP Sam Bellamy) - along with the museum dedicated to preserving the archeological finds at the site!

[azurlaneincorrectquotes]

Ranking the new pirate girls from worst to best, because I enjoy pretending people care about my opinions.

4: Whydah. Another sleepy, lazy girl. Oh wow, my favorite.

3: Adventure Galley. I wanna kick her ass, but she's fun

2: Golden Hind. I don't like that she's slimy, but she is cool

1: São Martinho. Our first Spaniard. Hell yeah

[cursedalthoughts]

new tempesta event girlies

@sillynightmarearbiter has a great post summarizing everything new which includes what shipgirls are subs, vanguards, etc but here they are for y'all

são martinho is a main fleet ship alongside adventure galley and golden hind being vanguard ships, and mary celeste and whydah are submarines.

[piratesofnassauarchive]

Push Back To Pirates

The pirates caused a crisis for trading nations, particularly those dealing in Atlantic trade that travelled through the Caribbean as they risked losing their ships and goods to pirates. For example the Whydah, an expensive heavily armed slave ship, was captured by pirate Black Sam Bellamy on the return trip of its maiden voyage in early 1717 and this marked a turning point in Britain’s response to the pirates. The ship was owned by Humprey Morris, an MP and Governor of the Bank of England who wielded his influence to start a campaign against the pirates.

Parliament and the Navy were also threatened by how the pirates and their republic lived, a system where voting was common and anybody injured during piracy was compensated for their injuries depending on their severity. This demonstration that ships could be run democratically threatened the authorities of naval and merchant captains. Parliament had to make being a pirate more dangerous and less appealing to keep people looking for an alternative in line.

So the suppression of piracy started in earnest in 1717 with the English Parliament making Woodes Rogers the governor of the Bahamas who used his position to drive piracy out of Nassau.

This was followed in September 1717, the London Gazette published a royal proclamation from George I which demanded that the pirates surrender themselves under a “Gracious Pardon” and have the actions that they committed as pirates forgiven by the crown. The proclamation said that this pardon was to be extended for a year before any pirates who had not surrendered themselves would be caught and convicted for piracy.

Sources and Secondary Reading:

The Lost Pirate Kingdom (Netflix)

[blackflag-rp]

¡EN BUSCA DE PERSONAJES!

Ahoy, criaturillas de la mar. A continuación dejaremos dos búsquedas de personajes y los barcos disponibles que buscan miembros.

BRITANNIA: https://blackflag-rpg.foroactivo.com/t87-el-britannia-te-necesita-busqueda-de-personajes#349

WHYDAH: https://blackflag-rpg.foroactivo.com/t101-suenos-de-libertad-busqueda

RANGER— Pirata.

BENJAMIN— Pirata.

ADVENTURE GALLEY— Corsario.

QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE— Pirata.

HMS SWALLOW— Armada.

SCARBOROUGH — Armada.

[originalleftist]

This is a mock battle between two replicas sailing ships, the Swedish Gotheborg and Russian Shtandart, from more than a decade back.

It's strange to think now that Russia and Sweden may actually go to war in the modern age, if Kremlin imperialism is able to continue.

But this gives a good sense of scale for imagining battles in the "Golden Age of Piracy". Most pirates operated smaller craft, but there are at least two wrecks of actual golden Age pirate ships that have been found: "Black Sam" Bellamy's Whydah Gally, and Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge. Of these, based on various sources, the Whydah Gally was almost exactly the size of Shtandart (at least, they mounted the same number of guns), though as its name suggests, it was a galley, and it was a former slave ship, not a navel frigate like Shtandart. The original Shtandart was also right from that time period. Gotheborg is from a bit later, but is about the size of the QAR (the original Gotheborg IIRC was an Indiaman merchant ship, while the QAR was a slave ship Blackbeard captured and modified into a frigate-strength warship).

So if you want a sense of what a high-end Golden Age pirate ship would look like in action, this is a pretty good approximation, although pirates might modify their vessels to make them lighter and more heavily-armed.

Battle between Götheborg and Shtandart

[applepies-and-starlight]

Royal Fortune is the most likely to cause a spectacle and the least likely to kill someone in a plunder/raid

Adventure Galley can electrocute people on contact; she is the most likely to maul someone during a plunder (usually by claw)

If you're up against Mary Celeste, chances are they won't find your body.... then they'll keep finding it washed ashore and strung up on palm trees

Whydah usually plays mission control, but if she's on the field stay away from her tentacles unless you want to be drowned

Despite her appearances, Golden Hind is best at hand to hand (especially with kicks). Her reflection also has the ability to move independently and affect the world to some degree, so stay out reflective surfaces' line(s) of sight so you don't get tag teamed

Sao Martinho has actual claws (Galley's is a sick as hell magic prosthetic made by Whydah) and her teeth are incredibly sharp; she isn't above biting and clawing if you manage to disarm her. The eyes on her wings are also functional, so it's incredibly hard, if not impossible to sneak up on her

[ltwilliammowett]

Pirate Ships

The specially built pirate ship did not exist, the pirates took what they could get, making sure that the vessel they chose was a suitable one. Most of the time they started with very small vessels like a Piragua, a small single-masted vessel with which they could quickly attack smaller places or even small merchant vessels. From there, most of them worked their way up until they had a vessel that was fast, easy and quick to careen for. In the late 17th - early 18th century, these were mostly sloops, brigantines or schooners but also sometimes a frigate, fluyt or pinas, which were also good in shallower waters, so that the pirates could reach the coasts more quickly and escape the larger and heavier warships. If a large ship was captured, it was often used as a booty store, plundered and then resold. Their vessels were well-equipped, with reduced superstructures on deck and usually overloaded with weapons, and the crew numbers were very high, as they were needed for boarding. In terms of armament, most ships had 4-pdr. guns and ten or twelve of them might be mounted on the deck. As well as a high number of swivel guns.

Many of the better-known pirates even maintained small fleets with which they hunted successfully. But here's a list of ships and their pirate captains - many of the pirates listed here I haven't looked at yet, but they're coming along bit by bit.

Edward Teach (Blackbeard) - Adventure, Queen Anne's Revenge (Pinas) William Kidd - Adventure Galley (Frigate), Adventure Prize (unknown) William Dampier - Bachelor's Delight (Frigate ?) Benito Soto - Black Joke (Brig) Henry Every - Fancy (Frigate) Black Bart Roberts - Fortune (Sloop), Royal Fortune (Frigate), Loyal Fortune (unknown) Good Fortune (Frigate), Great Ranger (unknown), Little Ranger (unknown), Rover (unknown), Sea King (Sloop)   Bartholomew Sharp - Most Holy Trinity (unknown) Henry Morgan - Oxford (fith rate -man o' war) Black Sam Bellamy - Mary Anne (Galley), Whydah (Galley) Edward Low - Fortune (Sloop) Stede Bonnet - Revenge (Sloop) Charles Vane - Revenge (Sloop) Edward England- Royal James (unknown)