Famous Pirates List

Edward Teach or Edward Thatch (c. 1680 – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he may have been a sailor on privateer ships during Queen Anne's War before settling on the Bahamian island of New Providence, a base for Captain Benjamin Hornigold, whose crew Teach joined around 1716. Hornigold placed him in command of a sloop that he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by the ad

Paul Watson is a nd actor, writer who appeared in "Sharkwater: Extinction," "At the Edge of the World," and "Sharkwater."

Bartholomew Roberts (17 May 1682 – 10 February 1722), born John Roberts, was a Welsh pirate who raided ships off the Americas and West Africa between 1719 and 1722. He was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy as measured by vessels captured, taking over 400 prizes in his career. He is also known as Black Bart (Welsh: Barti Ddu), but this name was never used in his lifetime.

Henry Every, also Avery or Evory (20 August 1659 – time of death uncertain), sometimes erroneously given as Jack Avery or John Avery, was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s. He probably used several aliases throughout his career, including Benjamin Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to his crewmen and associates.Dubbed "The Arch Pirate" and "The King of Pirates" by contemporaries, Every was infamous for being one of few major pirate captains to escape with his loot without being arrested or killed in battle, and for being the perpetrator of what

Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer and explorer of the Elizabethan era. Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580, and was the first to complete the voyage as captain while leading the expedition throughout the entire circumnavigation. With his incursion into the Pacific Ocean, he claimed what is now California for the English and inaugurated an era of conflict with the Spanish on the western coast of the Americas, an area that had previously been largely une

William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, ex-pirate and navigator who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. He has also been described as Australia's first natural historian, as well as one of the most important British explorers of the period between Sir Walter Raleigh and James Cook.After impressing the Admiralty with his book A New Voyage Round the World, Dampier was given command of a Royal Navy ship and made important discoveries in western Australia

Charles Vane (1680 – 29 March 1721) was an English pirate who operated in the Bahamas during the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Vane was likely born in the Kingdom of England around 1680. One of his first pirate ventures was under the leadership of Henry Jennings, during Jennings' attack on the salvage camp for the wrecked Spanish 1715 Treasure Fleet off the coast of Florida. By 1717, Vane was commanding his own vessels and was one of the leaders of the Republic of Pirates in Nassau. In 1718 Vane was captured but agreed to stop his criminal actions and accepted a King's Pardon; however just

Anne Bonny (possibly 1697 – possibly April 1782) was an Irish pirate operating in the Caribbean, and one of the most famous female pirates of all time. The little that is known of her life comes largely from Captain Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates. Born in the Kingdom of Ireland around 1700, Bonny moved to London and then to the Province of Carolina when she was about 10 years old. She then married and moved to Nassau in the Bahamas, a known sanctuary for pirates, around 1715. It was there she met Jack Rackham, and became his pirate partner and lover. Along with Mary Read, s

Cheung Po Tsai (Chinese: 張保仔; born Cheung Po; 1783–1822) was a navy colonel of the Qing Dynasty and former pirate. "Cheung Po Tsai" literally means "Cheung Po the Kid". He was known to the Portuguese Navy as Quan Apon Chay during the Battle of the Tiger's Mouth.

Thomas Tew (died September 1695), also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th-century English privateer-turned pirate. He embarked on two major pirate voyages and met a bloody death on the second, and he pioneered the route which became known as the Pirate Round. Many other infamous pirates followed in his path, including Henry Every and William Kidd.

Edward England, born Edward Seegar (c.1685–1721) was an Irish-born pirate. The ships he sailed on included the Pearl (which he renamed The Royal James) and later the Fancy, for which England exchanged the Pearl in 1720. His flag was the classic Jolly Roger — almost exactly as the one "Black Sam" Bellamy used — with a skull above two crossed bones on a black background. Like Bellamy, England was known for his kindness and compassion as a leader, unlike many other pirates of the time. England was born in Ireland around 1685. He took part in Henry Jennings' expedition for the sunken 1715 Treasure

Ching Shih (Chinese: 鄭氏; literally: 'widow of Zheng') (born Shih Yang (Chinese: 石陽; 1775–1844), a.k.a. Cheng I Sao (Chinese: 鄭一嫂), was a Chinese pirate leader who terrorized the China Seas during the Jiaqing Emperor period of the Qing dynasty in the early 19th-century. She commanded over 300 junks (traditional Chinese sailing ships) manned by 20,000 to 40,000 pirates:71—men, women, and even children. She entered into conflict with the major nations, such as the British Empire, the Portuguese Empire, and the Qing dynasty.Ching Shih and her crew's exploits had since been featured in numerous boo

Ingela Olofsdotter Gathenhielm née Hammar (11 September 1692 – 29 April 1729), was a Swedish shipowner and privateer in service of King Charles XII of Sweden during the Great Northern War.

Robert Culliford (c. 1666 - ?, last name occasionally Collover) was an English pirate from Cornwall who is best remembered for repeatedly checking the designs of Captain William Kidd.

Dirk Chivers was a Dutch pirate active in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean during the 1690s.

Emanuel Wynn (1650 in France – 1750 in the Caribbean) was a French pirate of the 17th century, and is often considered the first pirate to fly the Jolly Roger.

Stede Bonnet (1688 – 10 December 1718) was an early eighteenth-century Barbadian pirate, sometimes called "The Gentleman Pirate" because he was a moderately wealthy land-owner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. In 1709, he married Mary Allamby, and engaged in some level of militia service. Because of marital problems, and despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided he should turn to piracy in the summer of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, named

Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (Russian: Степа́н Тимофе́евич Ра́зин, Russian pronunciation: [sʲtʲɪˈpan (ˈsʲtʲenʲkə) tʲɪmɐˈfʲeɪvʲɪtɕ ˈrazʲɪn]; 1630 – June 16 [O.S. June 6] 1671), known as Stenka Razin (Стенька), was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 1670-1671.

Jean Bart (21 October 1650 – 27 April 1702) was a French naval commander and privateer.

Guillaume Le Testu, sometimes referred to as Guillaume Le Têtu (c. 1509-12 – April 29, 1573), was a French privateer, explorer and navigator. He was one of the foremost cartographers of his time and an author of the Dieppe maps. His maps were distinguished by their sophistication and detail; they influenced generations of cartographers, navigators and explorers. Le Testu was successful as a privateer during the early years of the French Wars of Religion. In 1573, he and Sir Francis Drake attacked a Spanish mule train escorting gold and silver to Nombre de Dios on the Atlantic coast of Panama,

Nathaniel Gordon (February 6, 1826 – February 21, 1862) was the only slave trader in the U.S. to be tried, convicted, and executed "for being engaged in the Slave Trade," under the Piracy Law of 1820.

Kristoffer Throndsen (c. 1500–1565), posthumously also with the family name Rustung, was a squire, admiral, feudal overlord in Norway and Denmark, privateer captain and pirate. Kristoffer served Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson, the interregnum leader of Norway, in the last years of the Kalmar Union. Kristoffer is famous for playing a role in the last years before the Reformation in Norway, first as the head of the national fleet, defending Norway from attacking Danish ships; and also as the murderer of Vincent Lunge, a Danish nobleman sent to Bergen in 1536 to enforce the choice the King of Den

Jean Fleury (or Florin) (died 1527) was a French naval officer and privateer. He is best known for the capture of two out of the three Spanish galleons carrying the Aztec treasure of Hernan Cortes from Mexico to Spain and one ship from Santo Domingo in 1522. This was one of the earliest recorded acts of piracy against the new Spanish Empire and encouraged the French Corsairs, Dutch Sea Beggars and English Sea Dogs to begin attacking shipping and settlements in the Spanish Main during the next several decades.

Sir Thomas Cavendish (19 September 1560 – May 1592) was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and return by circumnavigating the globe. While members of Magellan's, Loaisa's, Drake's, and Loyola's expeditions had preceded Cavendish in circumnavigating the globe, it had not been their intent at the outset. His first trip and successful circumnavigation made him rich from captured Spanish gold, silk and treasure from the Pacific and the Philippin

Hippolyte Bouchard, or Hipólito Bouchard (15 January 1780 – 4 January 1837), was a French Argentine sailor and corsair who fought for Argentina, Chile, and Peru. During his first campaign as an Argentine corsair he attacked the Spanish colonies of Chile and Peru, under the command of the Irish-Argentine Admiral William Brown. He was the first Argentine to circumnavigate the world. During his voyage around the globe he blockaded the port of Manila. In Hawaii, he recovered an Argentine privateer which had been seized by mutineers. He also met the local ruler, King Kamehameha I. His forces occupi

Dragut (Turkish: Turgut Reis) (1485 – 23 June 1565), known as "The Drawn Sword of Islam", was a Muslim Ottoman naval commander, governor, and noble, of Greek descent. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extended across North Africa. Recognized for his military genius, and as being among "the most dangerous" of corsairs, Dragut has been referred to as "the greatest pirate warrior of all time", "undoubtedly the most able of all the Turkish leaders", and "the uncrowned king of the Mediterranean". He was described by a French Admiral as "A living chart of the Mediterranean,

Oruç Reis (Turkish: Oruç Reis; Arabic: عروج ريس‎; Spanish: Arrudye; c. 1474–1518) was an Ottoman bey (governor) of Algiers and beylerbey (chief governor) of the West Mediterranean, and the elder brother of Hayreddin Barbarossa. He was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli (Lesbos in modern Greece) and was killed in battle against the Spanish at Tlemcen in the Ottoman Eyalet of Algeria. He became known as Baba Oruç or Baba Aruj (Father Oruç) when he transported large numbers of Morisco, Muslim and Jewish refugees from Spain to North Africa; he was known in folk etymology in Europe as Barbarossa

Occhiali (Giovanni Dionigi Galeni or Giovan Dionigi Galeni, also Uluj Ali, Turkish: Uluç Ali Reis, later Uluç Ali Paşa and finally Kılıç Ali Paşa; 1519 – 21 June 1587) was an Italian farmer, then Ottoman privateer and admiral, who later became beylerbey of the Regency of Algiers, and finally Grand Admiral (Kapudan Pasha) of the Ottoman fleet in the 16th century. Born Giovanni Dionigi Galeni, he was also known by several other names in the Christian countries of the Mediterranean and in the literature also appears under various names. Miguel de Cervantes called him Uchali in chapter XXXIX of hi

Mary Read (1685 – 28 April 1721), also known as Mark Read, was an English pirate. She and Anne Bonny are two of the most famed female pirates of all time, and among the few women known to have been convicted of piracy during the early 18th century, at the height of the "Golden Age of Piracy". Read was born in England in 1685. She began dressing as a boy at a young age, at first by her mother in order to receive inheritance money and then as teenager in order to join the British military. She then married and upon her husband's death moved to the West Indies around 1715. In 1720 she met Jack Ra

Jacob Willekens or Wilckens (1564–1649) was a Dutch admiral on a fleet to the Dutch Indies, and a herring seller, who went to sea again at the age of fifty for the Dutch West Indies Company. His most well-known success was undoubtedly the conquest of São Salvador da Bahia, the then capital of Brazil. His fleet, which included Dutch corsair Piet Hein as vice admiral, departed from Texel on December 22, 1623 with between 26-36 ships and 3,300 sailors towards South America. At the beginning of June 1624, they began their attack from sea and soon captured the Portuguese stronghold with little resi

Lancelot Blackburne (sometimes Blackburn, Blackborne or Blackbourn[e]; 10 December 1658 – 23 March 1743) was an English clergyman, who became Archbishop of York, and – in popular belief – a pirate. He was described by Horace Walpole, in his Memories, as "…Blackbourn, the jolly old Archbishop of York, who had all the manners of a man of quality, though he had been a buccaneer, and was a clergyman; but he retained nothing of his first profession, except his seraglio."

Alexander Dalzeel (died 1715) was a Scottish pirate and privateer who sailed in French service. Details on Dalzeel’s early life - his career under pirate Henry Avery and exploits against the Spanish - appear only in Alexander Smith’s 1720 collection “A Compleat history of the lives and robberies of the most notorious highwaymen,” while his later activities are corroborated by newspaper accounts and trial records.

François or Francis Le Clerc, known as "Jambe de Bois" ("Peg Leg"), (died 1563) was a 16th-century French privateer, originally from Normandy. He is credited as the first pirate in the modern era to have a "peg leg". He was often the first to board an enemy vessel during an attack or raid. It was this brazen style that eventually caused him to suffer the loss of a leg and severe damage to one arm while fighting the English at Guernsey in 1549. Although many pirates would have had their careers ended by such an injury, le Clerc refused to retire and instead expanded the scope of his piracy by f

Anicetus was the leader of an unsuccessful anti-Roman uprising in Colchis in AD 69. He claimed to be acting on behalf of Vitellius, and destroyed a cohort and part of the Roman fleet stationed at Trapezus. The revolt was put down by the Roman reinforcements under Virdius Geminus, a lieutenant of Vespasian. Overtaken at the mouth of the river Chobus (now the Enguri River), Anicetus was surrendered to the Romans by the local tribesmen, and executed.According to Tacitus, the only ancient source to mention him, Anicetus had been a freedman of King Polemon II of Pontus, and had commanded the royal

Samuel Ross Mason also, spelled Meason (November 8, 1739 – 1803) was a Virginia militia captain, on the American western frontier, during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he became the leader of the Mason Gang, a criminal gang of river pirates and highwaymen on the lower Ohio River and the Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was associated with outlaws around Red Banks, Cave-in-Rock, Stack Island, and the Natchez Trace.

Woodes Rogers (c. 1679 – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain and privateer and, later, the first Royal Governor of the Bahamas. He is known as the captain of the vessel that rescued marooned Alexander Selkirk, whose plight is generally believed to have inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Rogers came from an affluent seafaring family, grew up in Poole and Bristol, and served a marine apprenticeship to a Bristol sea captain. His father held shares in many ships, but he died when Rogers was in his mid-twenties, leaving Rogers in control of the family shipping business. In 1707, Rogers w

John Callis (or Calles) (died 1576) was a 16th-century Welsh pirate. He was active in South Wales from Cardiff to Haverfordwest, often selling his prizes and cargo in the villages of Laugharne and Carew in Milford Haven, only a few miles south of Little Newcastle, Wales. His piratical career lasted for decades before pressure from neighbouring countries forced to English government to take action and managed to capture him in 1576.The elderly pirate attempted to assist authorities in tracking down other pirates in exchange for his release, however the authorities refused his offer and he was h

Olivier van Noort (1558 – 22 February 1627) was a Dutch merchant captain. He became the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the world. Van Noort was born in 1558 in Utrecht. On 2 July 1598, he left Rotterdam with four ships. He planned to attack Spanish possessions in the Pacific and trade with China and the Spice Islands during the Eighty Years' War between the Netherlands and Spain. His ships were poorly equipped. The armament was weak, and the crews were unruly. Nonetheless, Van Noort sailed through the Magellan Strait and captured several ships (Spanish and otherwise) along the route.

Jean Lafitte (c. 1780 – c. 1823) was a French pirate and privateer operating in the Gulf of Mexico during the early 19th century. He and his brother Pierre spelled their name Laffite, though English documents used "Lafitte". The latter spelling became common in the United States for places named after him. Lafitte likely originated in Basque-France or the French colony of Saint-Domingue. By 1805, he ran a warehouse in New Orleans to help distribute goods smuggled by his brother Pierre Lafitte.

Michel de Grammont (c. 1645 – 1686?) was a French pirate. He was born in Paris, Kingdom of France. He was lost at sea in the north-east Caribbean in April 1686. His pirate career spanned from about 1670 to 1686, during which he commanded the flagship Hardi. He primarily attacked Spanish holdings in Maracaibo, Gibraltar, Trujillo, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Cumana, and Veracruz.

John Ward or Birdy (c. 1553 – 1622), also known as Jack Ward or later as Yusuf Raïs, was an English pirate around the turn of the 17th century who later became a Barbary Corsair operating out of Tunis during the early 17th century.

Olivier Levasseur (1688, 1689, or 1690 – 7 July 1730), was a pirate, nicknamed La Buse ("The Buzzard") or La Bouche ("The Mouth") in his early days, called thus because of the speed and ruthlessness with which he always attacked his enemies. He is also known for allegedly hiding one of the biggest treasures in pirate history, estimated at over £1 billion, and leaving a cryptogram behind with its whereabouts.

Zheng Zhilong, Marquis of Tong'an and Nan'an (Chinese: 鄭芝龍; pinyin: Zheng Zhilong; Wade–Giles: Ching Chih-lung; 1604–1661), baptised as Nicholas Iquan Gaspard, was a Chinese merchant, pirate, political and military leader in the late Ming dynasty who later defected to the Qing dynasty. He was from Nan'an, Fujian. He was the father of Koxinga, Prince of Yanping, the founder of the pro-Ming Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan, and as such an ancestor of the House of Koxinga. After his defection, he was given noble titles by the Qing government, but was eventually executed because of his son's continue

Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins (or Hawkyns) (c. 1562 – 17 April 1622) was a 17th-century English seaman, explorer and pirate. He was the son of Admiral Sir John Hawkins.

Jean Ango (italianized version for Jehan Angot) (1480–1551) was a Norman ship-owner who provided ships to king of France Francis I for exploration of the globe. A native of Dieppe, Ango took over his father's import-export business, and ventured into the spice trade with Africa and India. He was one of the first French to challenge the monopoly of Spain and Portugal, in addition to trading with the eastern Mediterranean, the British Isles, and the Low Countries. He also helped to finance the voyages of Giovanni da Verrazzano and Jacques Cartier.His father (also named Jean Ango) sent two ships

Captain Samuel Bellamy (c. February 23, 1689 – April 26, 1717), later known as "Black Sam" Bellamy, was an English pirate who operated in the early 18th century. He is best known as the wealthiest pirate in recorded history, and one of the faces of the Golden Age of Piracy. Though his known career as a pirate captain lasted little more than a year, he and his crew captured at least 53 ships. Called "Black Sam" in Cape Cod folklore because he eschewed the fashionable powdered wig in favor of tying back his long black hair with a simple band, Bellamy became known for his mercy and generosity tow

Magister Wigbold (1365–1401), (alternative spellings: Wygbold, Wycholt) was the name given to Bertram Wigbold, also called “Master of the Seven Arts”. He was a German pirate who belonged to the famous Likedeeler pirates of Klaus Störtebeker who were active in the North and Baltic seas. Wigbold was one of the most noted Likedeeler, along with Gödeke Michels and Störtebeker. The nickname Wigbold comes from wig (strife) and bold (courageous, bold). His real name is unknown.

Zheng Jing, Prince of Yanping (Chinese: 鄭經; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tēⁿ Keng; 25 October 1642 – 17 March 1681), courtesy names Xianzhi (賢之) and Yuanzhi (元之), pseudonym Shitian (式天), was a 17th-century Chinese warlord, Ming dynasty loyalist and ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan.

James Alday (1516–1576?) was a 16th-century English navigator, explorer and privateer. He participated in raids against the Spanish with fellow privateers James Logan and William Cooke during the 1540s and is credited, along with Sebastian Cabot and Henry Ostrich, of the start of regular trading between England and the Barbary coast. He himself claimed to have organised the earliest known voyage to the Barbary coast "inventing the Barbary trade" and, although intending to command the expedition himself, Alday was forced to turn his command to another due to illness. This voyage was not success

Diabolito or Little Devil (died July 1823) was a 19th-century Cuban pirate. One of the more violent of the era, he engaged the United States Navy and was one of the main fugitives pursued during later American naval expeditions in the Caribbean during the 1820s.