Blackbeard (Other Keyword)

DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Fred White

In 1982 the East Carolina Dive Club conducted underwater surveys on five known shipwrecks, one unrecorded shipwreck and a training exercise on the artificial reef made from two Liberty ships. The unrecorded wreck was first explored with multiple snorkel dives in 1979 after being identified by the man that discovered it in 1939. SCUBA surveys of the wreck revealed Colonial period cannons and anchors. The wreck was not originally recorded by the State of North Carolina as it was believed to be...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kimberly Urban.

Glass trade beads are one of the most notable artifacts of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Beads played an important role in African culture spiritually, metaphysically, and historically.  Since its discovery in 1996, over 790 whole and fragmented glass beads have been recovered from the Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck. The beads recovered from the Queen Ann’s Revenge have been identified, classified, cataloged, and compared to other bead assemblages recovered from underwater and terrestrial...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Linda F. Carnes-McNaughton. Mark U. Wilde-Ramsing.

In November 1717, at the height of his short-lived career as a notorious pirate, Blackbeard stole a French prize, the La Concorde de Nante. After taking the ship, he kidnapped several crewmembers and slaves, crucially needed to continue his pirating.  In June 1718, the ship was run-aground on a sandbar at Topsail Inlet and life changed once again for the crew and conscripted passengers. As Blackbeard and a few loyal crewmembers fled the scene on a smaller vessel, the rest were put a-shore. From...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Arianna M. DiMucci.

The in-progress conservation of two mechanical jacks recovered from the early 18th-century shipwreck Queen Anne’s Revenge (31CR314), flagship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard, is presented here. Designed to lift or pry apart heavy objects, the jacks were likely part of the ship carpenter’s tool kit. These devices worked much like their modern hydraulic counterparts and consisted of a tapering, slotted rack with one end used for lifting; the other passed through the center of a gearbox...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Karen E. Martindale.

Beginning with the development of the verge escapement in the 13th century, there was a trend in mechanical timepieces to make them both more accurate and more portable. The most accurate timepiece of the 18th century, the marine chronometer, could be used to determine longitude at sea, while up to this point pocket watches were used as displays of wealth and for tasks such as keeping track of watch shifts. Pocket watches were not uncommon on board ships during the 17th and 18th centuries, but...

DOCUMENT Citation Only David Moore.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project has been ongoing for over two decades. While ample consideration has been given to potentially identifying those artifacts recovered from the wreck of Blackbeard’s flagship that represent a piratical signature, limited attention has been paid to extracting information from the historical record in regards to the material culture plundered by pirates from the prizes that were captured.  There is in fact much information revealed in the various letters,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only J Myron Rolston. Kimberly P Kenyon. Teresa E Williams.

Until recently, weapons from Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge (31CR314) were primarily represented by large artillery: the ubiquitous twenty-nine cast iron cannon found on the wreck to date. The only trace of small firearms has consisted of isolated gunlocks, flints, and the occasional copper alloy fittings, such as side plates, trigger guards, and a lone musketoon barrel. X-radiography, however, has now revealed additional evidence. Five articulated small arms and additional disarticulated...