For complete coverage of the exploration of this vessel, visit the Division's QAR Project site.
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Blackbeard the Pirate
. . . and the Presumed Wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge.
THE WRECK . . .
Summary:
The wreck site is in about 20 feet of water in Beaufort Inlet, inside North Carolina waters.
Gradiometer Survey Results, Surface Interval Dive Company (SIDCO), June 11, 1999. The red areas indicate "hot spots" for ferrous objects, possibly additional cannons. Bottom of map is North.
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- Found by Intersal, a private group licensed by North Carolina, on November 21, 1996. Find confirmed by N.C. Underwater Archaeology Unit on November 22,
1996 (the 278th anniversary of Blackbeard's death).
- The wreck was originally buried under sand with only an anchor fluke visible above the seabed. Subsequent excavation revealed numbers of large cannon.
- Artifacts recovered include a bronze ship's bell (dated 1709), a brass blunderbuss barrel, a 21-lb. lead sounding weight, 24-pounder cannon balls, and numerous other small objects. The bell is not from Queen Anne's Revenge, but is either Spanish or Portuguese. The blunderbuss and sounding weight are definitely English.
The Ship:
- Armed merchantman Concord built in England about 1710 and captured by the French late that year.
- The ship weighed about 300 tons with 20 to 26 guns.
- It was captured by Blackbeard in the Caribbean, November 1717, while engaged in the slave trade as Concorde ("e" added) under Captain d'Ocier.
- Blackbeard increased the ship's armament to about 40 guns, probably by adding small rail guns, and renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge. The vessel became Blackbeard's flagship.
- Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground entering Beaufort Inlet in June 1718, and was lost.
The Debris Field:
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