Did Blackbeard’s ship run aground near NC on purpose? Clues emerge in new research
Blackbeard may have intended to run his pirate ship aground off the North Carolina coast, new research suggests.
Clues from the 300-year-old Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck indicate there was likely a “major leak” onboard, East Carolina University said Thursday in a news release.
Jeremy Borrelli, an assistant staff archaeologist, studied the hull and found lead sheathing, a material used for patch-up jobs, according to the university.
“The grounding of QAR may therefore represent a premeditated move by Blackbeard to rid himself of a ship that he felt was no longer serviceable,” Borrelli wrote, according to the release.
In 1718, officials say the ship went onto sandbar near Beaufort, North Carolina. The city is roughly 100 miles northeast of Wilmington.
The Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck was discovered in 1996, and archaeologists have since found at least two-dozen cannons at the site, according to the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Since the whole ship hasn’t been recovered, Borrelli told ECU his findings are preliminary.
The ship was used to transport slaves across the Atlantic Ocean before pirates captured it in Martinique in 1717, state officials say. Documents indicate the ship had leaks by the time Blackbeard took it over, according to ECU.
“After it was captured, Blackbeard kept the pilot, two carpenters and the caulker from the French crew,” Borrelli said in the news release. “These individuals would have a good working knowledge of the ship’s condition and so this decision to keep them makes sense to increase the longevity of the pirate’s newly acquired prize.”
The Queen Anne’s Revenge led a pirating fleet before it and another ship were wrecked, according to History.com. The crew took a third ship to the North Carolina shore, where Blackbeard gave up his stolen goods in exchange for a pardoning, according to the website.
Blackbeard, whose real name was Edward Teach, is believed to have taken control of more than 30 ships, history.com reported.
Borrelli’s research about his ship recently appeared in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, according to ECU.
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Did Blackbeard’s ship run aground near NC on purpose? Clues emerge in new research."
