Anne Bonny

Active 1720: American Anne Bonny fell into piracy when she ran off with pirate captain, Jack Rackham. Disguised as a man, she helped him plunder ships in the Caribbean, but they were captured and Rackham went to the gallows. Bonny escaped the death penalty because she was pregnant.

Mary Read

1680–1720: Mary Read was dressed as a boy by her widowed mother in childhood, and went on to serve in both the army and navy before joining pirate Jack Rackham’s crew. There she met fellow female pirate Anne Bonny, and both women are said to have fought more bravely than the men. Like Bonny, she escaped hanging because she was pregnant, but died of an illness soon afterward.

Charlotte de Berry

Born 1636: Charlotte de Berry disguised herself as a man to join the English Navy with her husband. She was later forced onto a ship bound for Africa, and when the captain discovered her secret, he attacked her. De Berry took revenge by leading a mutiny and turning the ship to piracy. She operated off the African coast, raiding ships carrying gold.
 

Ching Shih

1807–1910: Madame Ching Shih was the widow of a Chinese pirate captain, but turned out to be an even greater pirate leader than her husband. With 1,800 armed ships and around 80,000 men and women, she completely controlled the coastal trade around China.