Colonel William Rhett (4 September 1666 – 12 January 1723) was an English-born planter, politician and military officer who immigrated to the Carolinas, where he spent the majority of his life.

Rhett also sat in the South Carolina General Assembly and served in the colonial militia; in 1718, he commanded two chartered sloops and defeated the Barbadian pirate Stede Bonnet in the Battle of Cape Fear River.

Hind, a notorious pirate and sea-rover, having lately got into a brigantine with a mixt company of Dutch, French and other people, came up with an English-built ship mounted with two and twenty guns called the Providence galley, under the command of Capt.

Rhett assumed the position of captain of this small flotilla and led it to victory in the 1718 Battle of Cape Fear River, capturing Stede Bonnet, the so-called "gentleman pirate."

Bonnet escaped from jail with the help of local merchant and fellow pirate Richard Tookerman; he made it as far as Sullivan's Island before Rhett again captured him.