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Massachusetts Materials Research |
Secrets of the Pirate Ship Whydah Revealed |
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Cape Cod: MMR helped out the National Geographic Explored television series by performing nondestructive inspection of various artifacts recovered from the pirate ship Whydah. Explorer Barry Clifford’s long search for the ship, which sank off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., in 1717 ended in 1984, when the vessel was found under 5.2m (17ft) of sand. The ship’s bronze bell, recovered in 1985, established the wreck as the first pirate ship found in North America. Excavation of the site has been going on ever since. Radiography: Several of the heavily encrusted objects were brought to MMR in containers of sea water to maintain their integrity. The objective of the X-ray inspection was to identify what lay underneath the layers of minerals that had built up after being submerged for more that 250 years. MMR successfully identified parts of the ships’ rigging, various hand tools, a rail- mounted antipersonnel weapon, gold doubloons and silver pieces of eight. Marine archeologists witnessing the inspections were pleasantly surprised by the ability of MMR radiographers to read the date (1689) on one of the doubloons.
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The National Geographic Explorer program about Whydah, which included segments filmed at MMR, premiered 26 May, 1999 on Turner Broadcasting Systems. The vessel, its crew, and its cargo are also profiled in “Pirates of the Whydah,” an article by Donovan Webster published in the May 1999 issue of National Geographic (Vol.195, No. 5, p. 64-77) |
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Nor’easter: “Prowling the Caribbean Sea and Western Atlantic, Samuel ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy plundered more than 50 vessels during his yearlong pirate career. In February 1717 he chased down and commandeered the English slave trader Whydah, a fast, three-masted merchant galley” …. “Plotting a course for Richmond Island off Maine, Bellamy continued raiding along North America’s east coast. On April 26 what may have been a diversion to visit his mistress on Cape Cod became a date with doom; Bellamy, with all but two of 146 men on board, perished in a howling nor’easter where gusts topped 70 miles an hour and the seas rose 30 feet.”
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Heavily encrusted rail-mounted antipersonnel weapon. |
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Spanish piece of eight dating to the late 1600s. |
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“When she sank, the Whydah was said to be heavy with treasure”… To date , however the most common items found in the wreck have been bits of bird shot and musket balls. After 15 years, Barry Clifford now “believes he’s finally zeroing in on what’s left of the hull and loot from the first pirate ship ever discovered in North America.” Details: Two web sites feature the Whydah: www.whydah.com and www.nationalgeographic.com/whydah. For more information about MMR’s testing capabilities please contact sales@massmaterials.com.
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MMR radiographer identifies a piece of eight in a radiograph of another artifact. |
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Article reprinted, in part, from July 1999 issue of Advanced Materials & Processes with permission from ASM International. |
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