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In 1718, Blackbeard's severed head was mounted on the front of the British ship that captured him. What's purported to be his skull now sits in a glass case at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA. But the whereabouts of the Queen Anne's Revenge, the headquarters of Blackbeard's four-ship fleet, has been a mystery since it ran aground in Topsail Inlet near Beaufort in June 1718. Now, after 15 years of sleuthing, archaeologist David Moore of the North Carolina Maritime Museum and his colleagues think they've found the most notorious pirate ship to roam the high seas. When waters calm around October 1, divers will remove the sand covering a shipwreck believed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge. Last year, eight artifacts, including a bell dated 1709, were recovered from the ship. Stephen Claggett, North Carolina state archaeologist, says the chances are 80% or better that they've found Blackbeard's ship. North Carolina legislators appropriated $200,000 to begin excavation. "This find is extraordinarily important," says British scholar David Cordingly, the world's leading expert on pirates, "not only because Blackbeard is the most famous pirate of all, but because it's only the second pirate ship ever found." |
"The fellows (in North Carolina) are a bit cautious about saying what they have," Cordingly adds, "But they've done a tremendous amount of careful research, and they have the right site, the right type of ship and the right time period. I'm very encouraged."
The discovery of the Queen Anne's Revenge could significantly alter what is known both about Blackbeard and the everyday lives of pirates. Despite all the novels and movies, the historical record on pirates is quite sparse. Unlike British naval officers, pirates weren't much for record-keeping or writing home.
The find coincides with a resurgence of interest in pirates. Warner Bros. is planning a big-budget movie on Blackbeard with Sean Connery reportedly cast as the pirate and Kevin Costner playing Lt. Robert Maynard, who caught him. A pirate's exhibit at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News drew 3,000 on the day it opened, Aug. 30. (It runs through Jan. 4.) And Cordingly's book on pirates, Under the Black Flag, is just out in paperback.
The Queen Anne's Revenge could be for pirates what the King Tut exhibit was for ancient Egypt: a blockbuster museum exhibit that rekindles interest in a romantic era of the past. Preservation and cataloging likely would delay a major exhibit for at least five years.
Already, five museums in North Carolina and Virginia are fighting to get a share of Blackbeard artifacts. The town of Bath, N.C., wants artifacts for a pirate museum because Blackbeard visited there. Ocracoke, N.C., wants some because Blackbeard got killed there. And Hatteras, N.C., wants some so tourists can learn more about the 1,000 shipwrecks along North Carolina's coast.
And those towns haven't even built their museums yet.
The Newport News museum wants the bell recovered last year for its current pirate's exhibit. (North Carolina said no.) The North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort probably will win the competition. It's a state museum run by the department involved in recovering the Queen Anne's Revenge.
North Carolina owns the shipwreck because it was found in state waters. The state hasn't decided how to display what is found.
The shipwreck is embedded in sand and silt under 20 feet of murky water in a busy channel that fishing boats and yachts still use. "The inlet looks much the same today as it did in Blackbeard's time," Moore says.
In a 1982 master's thesis, Moore outlined the area where the Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground. Last year, Intersal Inc., a company that searches for sunken treasures, found the shipwreck while looking for another ship, which sank with a fortune in silver on board.
The Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground in June 1718 under mysterious circumstances. A few believe it was an accident, the result of bad sailing. Most historians, however, think Blackbeard grounded the ship intentionally, loaded his loot onto a schooner, and then fled with a smaller crew so he wouldn't have to divide his fortune among several hundred men. That's why the North Carolina archaeologists don't expect to find much booty on the shipwreck. What they hope to find are the everyday possessions of pirates.
For a legend, Blackbeard is almost invisible in historical documents.
Scholars aren't even sure of Blackbeard's real name: Edward Teach or Thatch or Theach or something like that is suspected. No birth certificate has been located. Blackbeard may have been born in Bristol, England, or London or Philadelphia or Jamaica. He was probably in his late 30s when he was captured.
Even the ubiquitous drawings of Blackbeard, which ornament businesses along the North Carolina coast, may be mere fancy. No drawing of Blackbeard was made during his life. Reports conflict about whether he was short or tall, husky or thin. Only one thing is known for sure: He did have a long, black beard at a time when few men wore beards.
Blackbeard is known mostly for his professional accomplishments. He was the most audacious pirate who ever lived, says Cordingly.
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Blackbeard's career as a pirate captain lasted just 15 months, from the time he took control of the ship he renamed the Queen Anne's Revenge until Nov. 22, 1718, when he lost his head in hand-to-hand combat aboard the British ship sent to capture him. Blackbeard is known to have looted at least 50 ships. The number was probably closer to 100, says Moore, who keeps a data base of the pirated ships and their cargo. In his most famous plunder, Blackbeard blockaded the harbor of Charleston, S.C., for two weeks and cleaned out every ship going in or out. The Queen Anne's Revenge, loaded with 40 cannons and 150 pirates, was the intimidating flagship. Another 150 pirates under Blackbeard's command worked on three schooners, smaller and quicker boats that could catch ships trying to flee. The Queen Anne's Revenge wasn't the largest pirate ship on the seas, but it was big for the time: about 100 feet long and 75 feet wide, Moore says. It was made of white oak and had three masts. |
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Divers at the Beaufort shipwreck report the bottom of the hull is still intact, remarkable for a wooden ship that sank nearly three centuries ago.
The only other confirmed pirate shipwreck is the Whydah, found off Cape Cod in 1984. The Whydah broke apart in a storm in 1715. None of the ship's structure remained, but thousands of artifacts scattered over a 25,000-square-foot area. The items - silk stockings, silk sashes, a fancy pistol - confirmed that pirates dressed in the fanciest clothes. "It was like Hell's Angels wearing tuxedos," says Rob Reedy, a nautical archaeologist who worked on the Whydah.
The Queen Anne's Revenge would offer different clues into pirate life. And what's revealed about how the wreck occurred would illuminate Blackbeard's mind and motive.
"I believe he was downsizing" because of a British crackdown on the pirates, Moore says. "He saw the writing on the wall. The Golden Age of Piracy was winding down. He was a practical man. I think Blackbeard wanted to get the King's pardon, go straight and retire with his fortune."
Article by By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY 09/23/97 - 01:12 AM ET |
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