15 Most Famous Pirates of the Maritime World

The period from 1689 to 1718 in America was the golden age of piracy, which saw the rise of many pirates, including Blackbeard and Henry Morgan, as well as female pirates, such as Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

In this article, let us explore the 15 most famous pirates of all time.

1. The Barbarossa Brothers

Baraba Rossa, which translates to Red Beard in Italian, was used to refer to Aruj and Hizir, two brothers who were experienced pirates in the Mediterranean when Spain conquered Granada in 1492.

They fought under Korkud, the Ottoman Sultan, to defeat Spain and Portugal from making territorial gains in North Africa and the western Mediterranean. After the Sultan’s death, they came to North Africa and rose to prominence among the local communities. 

They attacked Algiers in 1516, and it fell under their control. The Ottoman Empire recognised their importance and offered the brothers funds and support. Aruj became the governor of Algiers, while Khidr became the Chief Sea Governor of the Western Mediterranean.

Christians created a fleet called Holy League to defeat the Barbarossa Brothers, who had a successful pirating career.

2. Henry Morgan

Despite being one of the best-known pirates, Captain Morgan’s status as a pirate is still unknown. Different accounts refer to him as a pirate, privateer or buccaneer. Nonetheless, he is known for his reign in the Caribbean region.

He is most famous for his attacks on Spanish vessels and plundering towns, including the likes of Puerto Principe, a Spanish town that had to be rebuilt entirely after Morgan and his men were done with it. England discreetly supported him in his attacks against the Spanish Kingdom.

He had a powerful Jamaican fleet, and folk stories claim that he may have overtaken more than 400 ships during his entire life as a pirate. He is known for his raid on Panama City, with 30 ships and 1200 men to capture enormous wealth.

He was later arrested and taken to England. However, he was pardoned and sent to Jamaica. He became the Governor of Jamaica and later went to a small plantation where he lived till the end of his life.

3. Thomas Tew

A notorious pirate, Thomas Tew, looted a large Indian ship, plundering a treasure worth £100,000, followed by another attack on a Mughal Convoy.

The latest attack cost him his life, but not before he earned quite some treasure, teamed up with other pirates like others and enjoyed a heroic piracy career.

4. Henry Avery

Also called Long Ben, he is known to have looted two major ships in quick succession, assembling a huge treasure to his credit. This indicates excellent strategic skills.

But he is most famously known for never having been caught alive. He retired after the huge plunder and escaped into a world of oblivion, never to be seen again except in the folklore and legends.

5. L’Olonnais

François l’Olonnais was a French pirate who operated in the Caribbean in the 1660s. In 1666, he sacked Maracaibo in today’s Venezuela, along with eight ships and 440 pirates.

At the same time, he encountered a Spanish ship filled with treasures, including gemstones, over 260,000 Spanish dollars, and cocoa beans.

He pillaged and burned Maracaibo in the next months and killed 500 soldiers. Even after getting the promised ransom, he continued to ransack the city and took almost everything, including slaves.

This incident gave him a reputation for cruelty. He tied ropes around the neck of his victims till their eyes popped out.

He is rumoured to have eaten the heart of one of his enemies. However, he was captured by a cannibal tribe in 1668 and was never heard of again.

6. William Kidd

A cold-blooded hardcore pirate, captain of one of the most famous pirate ships, Captain Kidd, was a privateer assigned to free New York and the West Indies of pirates.

But a change in circumstances meant he faced a mutiny from his crew. A loss of another choice, he made the first brutal act of his piracy career with a murder and then never looked back. His most daring act was to loot a treasure ship, almost twice the size of his ship, along with the Malabar Coast of India.

He was hunted, the first live documented hunt in the Atlantic world. Although he asked for forgiveness, he had lost all luck. He sailed to Boston, was arrested by the New England governor, Sir Richard Bellomony and sent to England in 1700.

He was hanged on 23rd May 1701. He faced a painful death as he was hanged twice. The first rope broke midway, and he had to be hanged a second time.

7. Edward Teach or Blackbeard

Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, was rightly famous for his notorious ways. He intimidated others by wrapping smoking fuses into his braided facial hair and dangling numerous pistols and daggers on his chest.

He was a living image of the devil and a skilled fighter. Famous for his loot, he took whatever he could. His piracy career makes a glorious account of his life.

He took over a French slave ship in 1717 and renamed it the Queen Anne’s Revenge. It was fitted with 40 guns, and with that, he blocked the port of Charleston, South Carolina, until he got a chest of medicine.

After reaching North Carolina, he was killed in a skirmish with the British Royal Navy. As per legend, he received 20 stab wounds and five gunshots before he died.

8. Zheng Yi Sao

Also called Shek Yeung and Ching Shih, she was a pirate leader who operated in the South China Sea from 1801 to 1810.

She married her husband at the age of 26, and after he died, she controlled his pirate confederation with her adopted son, whom she later married. 

She had great influence over the Guangdong Pirate Confederation, and her fleet included 400 Chinese ships and 60,000 pirates. She faced major powers like the Portuguese Empire, East India Company and even the Qing.

In 1810, she surrendered to the Qing to avoid prosecution. At that time, she commanded over 20 ships and 1,400 pirates. She died at the age of 68 after being a successful opium smuggler.

9. Calico Jack

The list of names of pirates all over the world would be incomplete without mentioning Calico Jack Rackham. He became captain of the ship he was sailing with as a quartermaster when he stood up against a seemingly wrong attack decision by the ship’s captain.

This was the first glimpse of his leadership and piracy career. He later went on to make his ship one of the most famous pirate ships in the world. He was popular for his famous Jolly Roger Flag with a skull and two crossed swords and for having two female pirates on his crew, Mary Read and Anne Bonny.

In 1719, he was granted a pardon for his earlier piracy attacks. However, he went to sea and captured a 12-gun sloop from Port Nassau, Bahamas.

He had a dozen followers and only two of the women pirates to ever operate in the Caribbean. One was Anne Bonny, who left her husband to be with Captain Jack, and the other was Mary Read, who disguised herself as a man, trained and lived like a pirate. In 1720, they met their end due to an encounter with a pirate hunter vessel.

10. Charles Vane

Vane was an English Pirate active in the Bahamas in the early 1700s. One of his first missions was under the guidance of Henry Jennings when he attacked the salvage camp for a Spanish treasure fleet off Florida.

Soon, Vane began to command ships, and though captured a year later, he agreed to stop and accept the King’s pardon. 

However, just months later, he and his men returned to piracy. He was quite cruel and tortured his enemies before finally killing them.

In 1719, he was stuck in rough weather in the Bay Islands and spotted by a British ship, leading to his arrest. He was later tried and hanged.

11. Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake was more active in the Caribbean during the 16^th century as an English wartime sailor than a full-time pirate.

He was a gifted sailor with excellent sailing skills, but fate was not so kind. Bad luck led him on the road of revenge, which ultimately set off his piracy career. However, his intelligent strategies earned him a place as one of the best-known pirates in the world.

 12. Anny Bonney and Mary Read

Presenting an extraordinary pirate story of female strength in a men’s world, these two female pirates were anomalies in the world of pirates. But they were headstrong, rational, and knew what they did not want from life.

Fate brought them both into piracy and each other’s friendship, but their skills as efficient seafarers earned them the title of famous pirates of the world.

They both found their way into the pirate crew of Calico Jack but left when the ship and its captain were finally captured. Legend believes that Anny and Captain Jack were in a romantic relationship. Even the friendship between Anny and Mary is thought to lurk on the verge of something more.

Anne Bonny had a difficult life. She was the offspring of her father and a servant, and once the truth was revealed, she was sent to the New World to work on a plantation, where she met a sailor named James Bonny and married him. She started mixing with pirates and left her husband for Captain Jack when she ran off from home.

13. Howell Davis

Having enjoyed a short career of piracy, this young pirate captured the entire Caribbean region with his navigational skills and daring nature to take on ships larger than his own.

A rather bumpy ride throughout his career that lasted all of a year, he made some bold decisions, saw some rough phases and ultimately got his name written on some of the most influential pirates of the world.

14. Bartholomew Roberts

A notorious yet intelligent pirate, Batholomew Roberts, famously known as Black Bart, looted over 400 ships across the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Chanced into piracy, he was a natural.

He was young when the burden of a pirate’s ship’s leadership was put on his shoulders due to the death of Howell Davie, the pirate he was working with. He was bold, daring and cold-blooded.

He looted more than 20 ships, excluding a slaver he set on fire with enslaved people still on it. He captured the entire region of the Caribbean and West Indies.

He finally met his end in 1722 when he was killed. His daring career makes him as famous as he is in the history of pirates.

15. Black Sam Bellamy

Captain Samuel Bellamy was a sailor turned pirate of the 18th century. He was the wealthiest pirate during that era, and though his career as a pirate was short-lived, he managed to capture 53 vessels.

Unlike other pirates known for being cruel, Bellamy was generous and merciful. He was a gentleman and always dressed well. His men were quite fond of him and called him the Robin Hood of the Sea.

Born in 1689, he began his seafaring career as a sailor in the British Royal Navy. However, fate had different plans for him. He went on to work with Blackbeard and even Benjamin Hornigold. 

Bellamy took a captured ship under his command and also captured a slave trading ship in 1717,  which sank in a storm two months later, taking Bellamy and his crew with it. The ship’s wreck was found in 1984. 

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About Author

Zahra is an alumna of Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is an avid writer, possessing immaculate research and editing skills. Author of several academic papers, she has also worked as a freelance writer, producing many technical, creative and marketing pieces. A true aesthete at heart, she loves books a little more than anything else.

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