Remember Blackbeard the Pirate? Some of you might recall him as Edward Teach, but his fame as a pirate transcends whichever name you use. His ship, Queen Anne's Revenge, a former slaver, was run ashore, intentionally, while trying to escape the Royal Navy off Okracoke, North Carolina, in 1718. Her wreck was discovered by divers in 1996 and ever so slowly, she is being explored, with treasures (no, not that kind) hauled to the surface. The most recent recovery was her anchor.
The nearly 3,000-pound anchor is the
largest artifact yet recovered from the wreck of the notorious pirate's
flagship.
The anchor was atop a pile of
debris, which appears to be the remnants of the middle of the ship, including
its cargo hold, said Mark Wilde-Ramsing, director of the Queen Anne's Revenge
project. Next week, researchers hope to dig a small test hole into the pile
where the anchor was removed to get a sense of what else might be hidden there.
Other finds include period guns, swords and other military hardware.
Queen Anne's Revenge was originally
a French slave ship that Blackbeard and his band captured in the fall of 1717.
Blackbeard, an Englishman whose real name was thought to be Edward Teach, was
killed by British sailors in a battle near Ocracoke in 1718.
As more information and artifacts come to light (sorry about that!) I will try to update you. I hope you found this as interesting as I did. The website for the efforts in recovering Queen Anne's Revenge is www.qaronline.org. It's interesting.
Until next time,
Fair Winds,
Old Salt
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