Which pirate captain was also known as the Prince of Pirates?

Samuel Bellamy was also known as the Prince of Pirates.

Bellamy earned the title during a short but highly successful career in the Atlantic. He became captain of the Whydah Gally in 1717 after pirates seized the former slave ship. Under his command, the vessel and its crew captured merchant ships carrying valuable cargo along the American coast and in the Caribbean.

Accounts portray Bellamy as charismatic and sometimes more lenient toward captives than many other pirate leaders. His reputation for generosity likely contributed to the title, although surviving descriptions were shaped by later writers and should not be treated as complete biographies.

Bellamy’s career ended in the same year it reached its height. A powerful storm wrecked the Whydah off Cape Cod in April 1717, killing Bellamy and most of his crew. The wreck’s discovery centuries later renewed public interest in the pirate called both Black Sam and the Prince of Pirates.