When you think of pirates, a scruffy beard and a wooden leg might be the first images that pop into mind. Yet history proves that a fierce spirit, not a beard, makes a pirate legend. These ten amazing female pirates broke every stereotype, commandeered ships, and left a lasting imprint on the seas.
Why These Amazing Female Pirates Matter
From the Mediterranean to the South China Sea, women have steered vessels, negotiated treaties, and even built fleets that terrified empires. Their stories remind us that courage knows no gender, and the high seas have always been a stage for bold ambition.
10 Sayyida al Hurra
Born around 1485 into a prominent Muslim family in the Kingdom of Granada, Sayyida al Hurra fled to Morocco after the 1492 Reconquista. Settling in Chaouen, she later married a businessman whose death in 1515 thrust her into the role of governor of Tetouan. Her marriage to the Moroccan king Ahmed al‑Wattasi brought wealth, but also a burning resentment toward the Christians who had displaced her.
Through contacts with the famed Barbarossa of Algiers, Sayyida turned to piracy. Capturing Christian vessels not only fed her personal vendetta but also filled her coffers, earning her a reputation as a queen of the Mediterranean. She became the chief negotiator for the Spanish and Portuguese when they sought to free captives held by pirates. Her reign ended in 1542 when she was overthrown by her son‑in‑law, and her ultimate fate remains a mystery.
9 Pirate Queen Teuta Of Illyria
After the death of her husband, the King of Ardiaei, Teuta inherited the Illyrian kingdom in 231 B.C. Determined to curb aggression from neighboring states, she threw her weight behind the local pirate crews.
Under her patronage, Illyrian pirates seized the cities of Dyrrachium and Phoenice, and began harassing Roman and Greek merchant ships. When Roman ambassadors were captured—one killed, the other imprisoned—Rome declared war in 229 B.C. A massive force of 20,000 troops and 200 ships forced Teuta’s surrender in 227 B.C. Though she retained her title, the Romans barred her from ever sailing again.
8 Anne Bonny
Anne Bonny, sometimes called Anney, was born in Ireland between 1697 and 1700. After her family moved to the New World, her mother died and her father amassed a modest fortune in the merchant trade. A violent episode—stabbing a servant girl with a table knife—led to her disownment, and she soon married a small‑time pirate named James Bonny.Relocating to New Providence in the Bahamas, Anne met the notorious Captain Jack Rackham, commander of the ship Revenge. After divorcing James, she married Rackham and together they seized the Revenge, rallying a new crew and raiding numerous vessels, including tea‑laden ships that threatened English supplies. Governor Jonathan Barnet of Jamaica dispatched troops, but a drunken crew faltered while Anne bravely held off the attack. The ship eventually fell, Rackham was executed, and Anne vanished—rumors suggest her father may have paid a ransom.
7 Jeanne de Clisson
Born Jeanne‑Louise de Belleville in 1300, she hailed from a British lineage settled in Brittany. In 1330 she married Olivier III de Clisson, a wealthy noble tasked with defending Brittany from English claimants. After failing at Vannes, Olivier defected to the English, was captured in 1343, and executed in Paris on King Philip VI’s orders.
Incensed, Jeanne sold her lands and even her body to wealthy patrons to purchase three warships. She painted them black, dyed the sails red, and christened the fleet the “Black Fleet.” The fleet ruthlessly hunted King Philip VI’s ships, slaughtering crews but sparing a few to spread fear. Even after Philip’s death in 1350, she continued her campaign until 1356, when she retired to England—the only place where the French were tolerated as well as she was.
6 Ching Shih
Ching Shih entered the world in 1775, later becoming a prostitute in Canton. In 1801 she was captured by pirates and married their captain, Zheng Yi. Zheng unified several pirate fleets into the formidable Red Flag Fleet.
When Zheng Yi died in 1807, Ching assumed command of over 300 junks and a staggering 40,000 men. Her fleet terrorized the China Sea, even earning the British Admiralty’s dread when reports described her nailing an enemy to a deck and beating him senseless. The Chinese navy lost 63 ships to her forces, prompting the government to offer an amnesty in 1810—a deal Ching accepted.
5 Anne Dieu‑Le‑Veut
Born around 1650, Anne was a French criminal deported to Tortuga sometime between 1665 and 1675. There she married buccaneer Pierre Length. In 1683 Pierre fell in a bar fight to fellow buccaneer Laurens de Graaf.
Anne challenged Laurens to a duel—he drew a sword, she drew a gun. Though he refused to fight a woman, he was impressed by her ferocity and proposed marriage. The pair then plundered ships together, even raiding Jamaica in 1693. A British assault on Tortuga in 1694 captured Anne and her two daughters; they were treated respectfully and reunited with Laurens in 1698. Their ultimate fate remains unknown.
4 Grace O’Malley
Grace O’Malley was born in Ireland around 1530, during Henry VIII’s lordship over the island. Her father led the seafaring O’Maille clan, which operated with near‑autonomy from the English.
After her first husband, Donal of the Battle, was slain and his castle seized, Grace rallied an army to retake it. She later married a second husband, Iron Richard, divorced him within a year, and seized Rockfleet Castle.
Grace took over her father’s tax‑collection duties, demanding cash or cargo for safe passage. Refusal meant violence, and she even attacked Scottish and Irish noble fortresses. Legend says she once kidnapped the children of Anglo‑Irish aristocrats to pressure negotiations.
3 Lady Elizabeth Killigrew
Elizabeth, whose birth date is unknown but predates 1525, became Lady Killigrew after marrying Sir John Killigrew of Arwenack, Cornwall. In the 1540s, when Henry VIII built Pendennis Castle on Sir John’s lands, the Killigrews gained control of regional shipping.
They used that leverage to prey on cargoes entering the harbor, fortifying Arwenack House as their stronghold. Elizabeth buried treasure in her garden, and after John’s death in 1567, she took full command of the pirate operations. In 1581 she learned a Spanish ship, the Mafrie of San Sebastian, had taken refuge in Falmouth Harbor. She led an attack, seized the vessel and its cargo, and was later pardoned by Queen Elizabeth in 1582.
2 Christina Anna Skytte
Born in 1643, Christina was the daughter of Baron Jacob Skytte of Duderhof, Sweden. Her brother, Baron Gustav Skytte, led a secret double life as a pirate from 1657 onward, plundering ships in the Baltic Sea.
Together with her fiancé, Gustaf Drake, Christina became an active partner in the piracy “business.” After a conspirator was killed for attempting to withdraw, she proved she was no passive participant. In 1663 she was present when they attacked a Dutch merchant vessel, killing the crew and stealing the cargo. The raid led to Gustaf’s capture and execution, and Christina was forced to flee.
1 Jacquotte Delahaye
Jacquotte Delahaye was born in Haiti to a Haitian mother and a French father. Her mother died in childbirth, leaving her brother with mild brain damage and the family with little means.
Her father was later killed, forcing Jacquotte to turn to piracy in the Caribbean to support her brother. Active in the 1660s, she famously faked her own death to evade a government hunt. After living for years disguised as a man, she returned to piracy, earning the moniker “Back from the Dead Red.” She is thought to have sailed alongside Anne Dieu‑Le‑Veut.