Golden Age Pirates: Black Bart's 400 Ships, Zheng Yi Sao's 1,200-Ship Fleet, and Henry Avery's $100 Million Heist

Between 1650 and 1730, known as the Golden Age of Piracy, most pirate captains managed to seize only a handful of merchant ships, but a select few attained remarkable success. Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts, who began as a kidnapped sailor, became captain after Howell Davis's death and captured over 400 vessels in the Atlantic from 1719 to 1722. One of his notable early captures was a Portuguese treasure ship from a fleet of 42, yielding significant gold. Meanwhile, from 1801 to 1810, Zheng Yi Sao led the largest recorded pirate fleet, consisting of 1,200 ships and 80,000 crew members, effectively challenging the navies of China and Portugal. After her retirement, she disbanded her fleet and enjoyed her wealth. On September 7, 1695, Henry Avery and his crew aboard the Fancy attacked an Indian flotilla in the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, seizing the Fateh Muhammed and Ganj-i-Sawai. The treasure, valued at over $100 million today, likely represents the most lucrative act of piracy in history, prompting what may have been the first global manhunt and straining India–England relations. Avery vanished within a year, enjoying his riches, highlighting the rarity of enduring success in piracy.