Josh Gates hunts for the lost fortune of Captain Henry Every, history's most successful pirate yet one of its most obscure. In September 1695, Every seized the Ganj-i-Sawai, the world's richest treasure ship, in a heist worth over $100 million today—a score so audacious it triggered the first global manhunt. Despite capturing six of Every's crew and hanging them at London's Execution Dock in 1696, authorities never found the pirate king or his plunder. Gates begins his investigation at the Prospect of Whitby pub near the Thames, meeting pirate historian Colin Woodard to examine a centuries-old coded letter that treasure hunters believe may reveal the location of Every's hidden fortune, possibly concealed in a pirate cave or among shipwrecks off the English coast.
Mainstream history confirms Every's extraordinary disappearance: King William III's 1696 proclamation offered clemency to surrendering pirates but explicitly excluded Every, marking him as uniquely dangerous to the British Empire. What makes this episode compelling is the contrast between Every's historical impact—his attack on the Mughal treasure fleet nearly sparked a war—and his near-total erasure from popular memory, unlike contemporaries such as Blackbeard. The investigation combines archival detective work in London with potential physical evidence, including what appears to be a musket ball and strong metal detector hits at promising sites, suggesting Gates and the salvage teams may be closing in on tangible traces of the ghost pirate's legendary hoard.
Canary Islands
Spain · historical
Josh searched for the treasure of infamous Spanish pirate Amaro Pargo, diving beneath an active volcano to locate the pirate's hidden hoard.
Carrek Los Cove, Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall
United Kingdom · historical
Gates and the treasure hunting team conduct a metal detector survey of a beach cove below a high promontory near the Carrek Los gray rock formation, which they believe matches clues in Henry Every's letter. The team finds a copper pauper's ring but no pirate treasure.
Execution Dock, Wapping, London
United Kingdom · historical
Gates begins his hunt at Execution Dock on the banks of the River Thames, where pirates including six members of Henry Every's crew were hanged in 1696. He uses the site to establish the historical context of piracy and Every's story.
Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall
United Kingdom · historical
Gates joins salvage divers Rob Stacey and Don Russell at the port of Falmouth, where they depart by boat to dive a suspected shipwreck site offshore that the divers believe may be connected to Henry Every.
Knill's Steeple, St. Ives, Cornwall
United Kingdom · historical
Gates meets salvage divers Rob Stacey and Don Russell at Knill's Steeple, a mausoleum built by the eccentric 19th-century mayor John Knill who spent years searching in vain for Every's treasure. The divers present an Arabic coin and report finding a cannon offshore.
Offshore Wreck Site, Cornwall Coast
United Kingdom · historical
Gates dives with Rob Stacey and Don Russell at an offshore reef site where a magnetometer survey locates iron anomalies. The team recovers a William III silver coin, a lead die or musket ball, a Mughal Arabic coin, and fragments of milled wood, which they argue may be from Henry Every's final ship.
Penzance, Cornwall
United Kingdom · cultural
Gates visits the seaside town of Penzance, famously associated with pirates through Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, where he humorously engages with the town's pirate-themed tourism before continuing his investigation.
Prospect of Whitby, Wapping, London
United Kingdom · historical
Gates meets piracy expert Colin Woodard at the Prospect of Whitby pub, one of London's oldest taverns, to discuss Henry Every's background, his pirate career, and the global manhunt that followed his attack on the Ganj-i Sawai.
Sea Cave, Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall
United Kingdom · historical
Gates and Tyrone Leech swim to and enter a tidal sea cave along the Lizard coastline, searching for Henry Every's treasure. They discover two musket balls consistent with the late 17th-century period, suggesting possible historical activity in the cave.
The Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall
United Kingdom · historical
Gates travels to the Lizard Peninsula, the southwesternmost point of Great Britain, to meet treasure hunters who believe Henry Every buried his treasure near this coastline based on a centuries-old coded letter.