New Scientist
Image: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship that helped the pirate Blackbeard gain fame and fortune, was in poor shape and prone to leaking, a new analysis has revealed. The discovery could explain the vessel’s fate, as Blackbeard may have deliberately run it aground to avoid the headache of keeping it afloat.
We know little about the early life of Blackbeard, whose real name was Edward Teach. One of his most successful acts of piracy came in May 1718 when he used his pirate flotilla to blockade the entrance to the port of Charles Town (now Charleston) in South Carolina and ransomed the locals for their gold, silver and other supplies.
At the head of Blackbeard’s small fleet was Queen Anne’s Revenge, formerly a French slave ship that the pirates captured in the Caribbean in November 1717. But the flagship vessel may have been difficult to maintain. Read more on newscientist.com…
