Awesome Historical Pirate Women They Didn’t Teach You About in School

Don’t believe everything you see in the movies – piracy was very much a woman’s game and some of the most successful pirates of all time were women. Here are some of the coolest pirate women (that we know about) who put Blackbeard to shame.

Ching Shih

Believed to be the most successful pirate in history, Ching Shih commanded around 70,000 sailors and ravaged coastal towns in South-East Asia. Eventually the Chinese government gave up fighting her and allowed her to keep all her stolen loot if she promised never to steal anything again.

Grace O’Malley

The “Pirate Queen of Ireland,” Grace O’Malley was the daughter of a chieftain who was so respected and feared by fellow Irish clans that her rivals once arranged her bail when she was captured by the English.

When at one point her son was arrested, she travelled to London and met face-to-face with Queen Elizabeth I to earn an official pardon just for being cool.

Anne Bonny

Fierce pirate Anne Bonny was married to two fellow pirates at different times, and alongside her second husband Calico Jack Rackham, recruited several pirates crews.

She would often disguise herself as a man while on board – a trick that was also employed by her best friend…

Mary Read

Mary Read escaped to a life on the sea at a young age, often disguising herself as a man in order to do so. She and Anne Bonny were best friends, travelling the seas and stealing ships together (alongside Jack Rackham).

When the trio were captured along with their crew, Read and Bonny managed to escape the hangman’s noose because they were both pregnant at the time.