The richest pirate treasure in the world

After 15 years of searching the seabed off the town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, America, Barry Clifford, a treasure hunter, believes he has finally found the only pirate ship ever discovered in North America. Known as Whydah Galley , the ship carried huge numbers of treasures robbed from at least 53 ships before sinking by storm on April 26, 1717, according to National Geographic.

The treasure is taken from the pirate ship Whydah Galley.

After seeing a cannon in the sea, Clifford was so happy that he jumped into the water to see for himself.

"There are still many things down here," he told the search team through his diving outfit.

Clifford pulled from the ship a bag filled with gold and sand."There is a golden river below," Clifford added.

Clifford is a direct dive to find treasure.(Illustration)

He continued to discover two pieces of Spanish silver."Look at this," he shouted over . and conveyed the excitement of finding treasure for the crew of nine. "The last time a person touched this silver, they were handled by a pirate, or sold as a slave," Clifford said.

Since finding the treasure, Clifford has exploited more than 200,000 artifacts, including jewelry, gold coins, cannons and even ship bell. According to The Richest site, the treasure from the Whydah Galley is endless and still has been exploited for more than 30 years since it was found to date. This site also estimates that pirate ship treasure has a total value of up to $ 400 million, or more than VND 9 trillion.

Story of the infamous pirate ship

Whydah Gally, built as a slave ship in 1715, was 30 meters long and weighed 300 tons. On her first trip, she was robbed shortly after leaving Amica, according to the New England Today.

Pirates Samuel Belamy , nicknamed Black Sam , is said to be the richest pirate of the time, landing on a ship, using ships to rob wealth from other ships.

Whydah Gally pirate ship model weighs 300 tons.

Belamy then sent the ship to the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, where it was believed that his lover was waiting.

But Whydah Gally has never arrived. According to the story, the drunken pirate team was ecstatic, unable to reach the destination. Instead, they encountered a strong storm on the night of April 26, 1717. The wind up to 112km / h made the sea rough, creating waves as high as 9m.

Although not too far off the coast, sailors on Whydah could not escape the storm and crashed into a shallow beach, shattering. Only two of the 146 people on board survived the shipwreck.

One of them said the number of treasures on the Whydah was very large, including 180 bags of gold divided equally for the crew, stored in a chest, the New England Today wrote.

Whydah carried the treasure from 53 ships before sinking.

When the news of Whydah's treasure spread, people flocked to the sea to search. Colonial governor Samuel Shute then sent a treasure finder. However, his army only found many corpses floating on the sea, no more and no less.

During the next 2.5 centuries, Whydah continued to be a mystery. Many questions are asked without answers. Where is the wreck? Any treasure inside?

Historical treasure of pirates

After more than 260 years of sinking in the sea, the wreck of Whydah is finally found by treasure hunter Barry Clifford in July 1984. After stunned to discover precious gold dust and silver ingots, Clifford's group continues to declare. Add more evidence that this is the legendary pirate ship.

"You should come down here," Clifford told his partner on the ship while he was diving. "I found the majority of the hull, with lots of wood. Wow '.

Previously, Clifford had discovered many artifacts from Whydah (including the ship bell labeled "The Whydah Gally-1716") . However, he had never seen any part of the hull, believed to be the place to store the lost treasure.

Whydah Gally's bell.

Later, Clifford's partner also dived 9 meters deep in the sea with him and carried a big wooden tip. Clifford continued to tell his colleagues: 'I want more convincing evidence.'

The size and shape of this wreck below matches Whydah. The wood looks old. It is in the right position and the artifacts lying around the ship are like the artifacts collected earlier.

'I may be wrong, but for the time being, I will say that it is Whydah's hull.'

But Clifford is not wrong. After this discovery, his expedition found many other evidence. They saw fragments of pirate weapons, clothes, jewelry and tools.

Pirate items taken from Whydah Gally.

The most common items in the wreck are bird-fired bullets and bullets for long-barreled guns, designed to fight direct ship attackers. This finding suggests that pirates at the time seemed to prefer to fight closer to using destroying cannons.

Finally, beside countless coins and weapons, the adventurers found something really impressive: a human leg bone in black leather shoes. Paired with salvaged clothes, the bone shows the average pirate about 1.6 meters tall, not a giant like a Hollywood movie.

Whydah Gally wreck model is displayed at the museum.

Everything found in the wreck helped modern people better understand the 18th century piracy world, how they dressed and how to fight.

Unlike other treasures sold, thousands of artifacts taken from pirate ships are displayed for everyone to admire and learn.

Clifford opened the Whydah Pirates Museum in the summer of 2016.

In the summer of 2016, Clifford opened the Whydah Pirates Museum in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts - the only museum in the world to show the treasure of a recognized pirate ship. Here, a replica of the same size of Whydah Gally is also on display.