Anne Bonny and Mary Read were captured aboard the sloop William in 1720.
The William was commanded by John “Calico Jack” Rackham, whose crew included Bonny and Read. The vessel operated around the Bahamas and Jamaica during the final phase of the Golden Age of Piracy.
In October 1720, the privateer Jonathan Barnet attacked the William near Jamaica. Contemporary accounts say that many of Rackham’s male crew members were too drunk or unwilling to fight, while Bonny and Read were among those who resisted.
The capture is often remembered because Bonny and Read were two of the best-known women associated with Caribbean piracy. Their later legal histories differed: Read died in prison, while Bonny’s later fate is not firmly documented. The ship was not Rackham’s earlier vessel, which was called Revenge.