Ship May Be Blackbeard’s Archaeologists Believe They Found Notorious Pirate’s Flagship

A shipwreck believed to be the legendary Blackbeard’s pirate flagship has been discovered off the North Carolina coast - a discovery that state officials hailed Monday as “the most important underwater archaeological find in 25 years.”

North Carolina historians and archaeologists say the wreckage of a wooden sailing vessel found in shallow waters two miles off Beaufort, N.C., appears to be the remains of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship from which the pirate Edward Teach directed his reign of terror along the Southeast coast in 1717 and 1718.

“We know Blackbeard’s ship went down near Beaufort Inlet in 1718,” said Jeffrey Crow, director of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History. “This wreck is in the right place and it is from the right time.”

As a precaution against looting, state authorities have established 24-hour security at the site and started action to have the location, a part of the shipwreck-prone area called the Graveyard of the Atlantic, declared a marine sanctuary. Cannons, anchors and parts of the ship’s hull still litter the site.

Although coastal locations from the West Indies to New England claim some affiliation with Blackbeard’s raids, the protection afforded by the shallow, treacherous waters of North Carolina’s Outer Banks made the region one of his favorite hideouts.

It was also where his brutal career ended. After a weeklong blockade of Charleston harbor in May 1718, Teach’s flagship - and a second ship, the Adventure - ran aground and sank near Beaufort Inlet in June 1718. Any treasure that was aboard the two ships is thought to have been removed before they sank, but Teach himself was killed and beheaded off the Outer Banks later that year.

The artifacts recovered from the wreck so far - a brass bell dated 1709, an early 18th-century blunder-buss and a 24-pound cannonball - don’t conclusively tie the ship to the notorious pirate, but dozens of cannons found at the site match historical descriptions of Blackbeard’s heavily armed flagship, which he captured from the French in 1717.

“The evidence is circumstantial, but it’s strong,” said Mike Daniel, president of Maritime Research Institute, a nonprofit firm.

Daniel’s discovery of the wreck in November 1996 marked the culmination of an eight-year effort to find Blackbeard’s ship. Under a contract with North Carolina, all artifacts will be state property, but private shareholders will retain media right and marketing.