Blackbeard's anchor recovered off NC coast

AP ^ | May 27, 2011 | MARTHA WAGGONER

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. – An anchor from what's believed to be the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard's flagship has been raised from the ocean floor off the North Carolina coast.

Archaeologists believe the anchor recovered Friday is from the Queen Anne's Revenge, which sank in 1718. That was five months before Blackbeard was killed in a battle.

The artifact is the third-largest item at the shipwreck, outsized only by two other anchors.

Researchers retrieved the anchor from the shipwreck about 20 feet under water...

The anchor is about 11 feet long.

[Rudder]

[TalBlack]

” What is it about this figure, who in reality was no more than a sea-going thug?”

Could be that we are fascinated by men who go out and take responsability. This covers good and evil. Doesn’t matter if it is G Washington or pretty boy Floyd. They go, they Do, and they “back their own judgement” themselves. They of course are not comprable beyond that point.

[75thOVI]

Something I've given considerable thought to myself. For the most part I agree with you. There were some pirate such as L’Olonnais, and Roc Brasiliano who were naught but murdering psychopaths. Stede Bonnet, and Calico Jack Rackham were actually a couple of bumbling incompetents. Mary Read, and Anne Bonney passed quite sucessfully as men for a period of time, so they may not have been the sea-going sirens Hollywood portrays them as. Of course, James Hook had an unhealthy obsession with little boys. But, there were a few who did what they did with a certain “Style”. They managed to rise to the top at a time when common people just simply didn't. Keep in mind that at this time the difference between a war hero, a privateer, and a pirate, could be very thin indeed.

[No Truce With Kings]

“Teach’s flag depicted a skeleton spearing a heart,
while toasting the devil.
It was designed to intimidate enemies.”

Ri-i-ight. And Jack Sparrow actually existed, too.

Note the date on the illustration in your post. It is dated 1736. Teach died almost 20 years earlier (1718). And that image, along with all of the various pirate “flags” were created in London by engravers trying to please publishers with books to sell.

They could come up with any flag they could think of, and who was going to say boo about the accuracy? And frankly, they did. I have seen what you claimed to be Teach’s flag as Bartholomew Robert’s flag and Charles Vane’s flag depending on the book — and often varying from edition to edition of the book. (I am talking about 18th century books, or modern facsimile reproductions of those books.)

A few years back I decide to do some research on pirate flags to determine what designs were authentic. The fancy pirate flags you see in 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century books on piracy were all taken from 18th century books written 10 to 50 years after the end of the Golden Age of Piracy (which ended in 1721 or 22, although some pirates lingered on until 1730).

I could not find description in contemporaneous newspaper accounts (1700-1722), although that does not signify since not many are available. So I actually dug up Admiralty court records from that era (back in the early 1800s someone collected court proceedings from piracy trials into some books, and I obtained copies). After plowing through these source, I found no reference to skeletons, skulls-and-crossed bones, or any of the other devices frequently put forward as pirate flags. When flags were referred to the pirates were claimed to have been flying “a black banner” or “a red banner,” which I inferred to be a flag of solid black or solid red. After all, today when someone flies a white flag, it is a solid white flag. This makes a sense to me as having a skull-and-crossbones flag (or similarly-marked flag that could be associated with a pirate flag) aboard your ship would be evidence that your ship was a pirate ship and that you were a pirate. Back in the early 1700s it could not easily be explained away as a joke if you were caught with one in a law-abiding port (and even pirates went to law-abiding ports). On the other hand, every ship had bolts of red, black, white, blue, yellow, etc cloth aboard, and your solid black or red banner could be fairly easily explained away. For that matter, pirates today don’t bother with flags, and I suspect most pirates throughout history did not.

I am not saying it could not have happened, but until I see a contemporaneous official report from a naval captain of an encounter or capture of a pirate than describes one of the so-called pirate flags (other than as a “black banner”) or a Admiralty Court proceedings of a piracy trial from the period 1700-1725 describing such flags, I will believe that all of these fancy pirate flags were the product of Fleet Street circa 1730-60, with subsequent appearances on the high seas being borrowings from these books.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

IIRC the Jolly Roger was actually the “jolie rouge” or pretty red flag. Also IIRC that flag being raised meant if the defending ship fought it could expect no quarter.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Nice painting...

[Cheetahcat]

“Blackbeard, Edward Teach, left descendants down there. If it could be said he actually resided anywhere, that would be Bath, but he had a longterm dalliance up the Tar River at a plantation near modern day Grimesland, where his sister is also reputed to have lived. He often climbed a large cypress tree on the banks of the Tar by Grimesland to survey the Pamlico Sound for ships to plunder.

Local lore on Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks says that going out to Teaches’ Hole, where he was beheaded and killed, on a night with a full moon and slappig the water three times with an oar will lead to the headless ghost of Blackbeard swimming around your boat, lol.”

Thanks for that post.

[Tanniker Smith]

You know, I can add a chuckle and an inexplicable gleam in my eye now when I say, “I Teach kids....”

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Lol

[Daffynition]

BC, I believe your image is needed on this thread. ;)

[angcat]

A nice bath and he’s not bad looking.

[Hatteras]

other “news” on this Black Beard search dive...

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/9655559/#/vid9655559

[Bean Counter]

[Hatteras]

The anchor is at ECU per this story...

http://www.wwaytv3.com/2011/05/27/blackbeards-anchor-returns-from-the-depths

"The anchor is at the Queen Anne's Revenge Conservation Lab at East Carolina University, where restoration could take four years. Captain Beuth thinks the final resting place should be in front of Cape Fear Community College."

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Thanks for sharing! :-)

[AGreatPer]

"The anchor is at ECU"

Thank you for the info.

[SunkenCiv]

• Blackbeard's Sword?
• Researchers Resume Hunt for Artifacts at QAR Shipwreck Site (Blackbeard's Flagship)
• Pirate bones could be in that box, author says[NC]
• Bill Richardson now being investigated for Pay to Play by a Federal Grand Jury
• This Is How You Deal With Pirates: The Death of Blackbeard
• Little object, big find from shipwreck [ Blackbeard , Queen Anne's Revenge ]
• Blackbeard's Ship to Be Fully Excavated
• 'Arrrrr!'
• Archaeologists continue work on shipwreck
• Some Question Discovery Of Blackbeard's Flagship Off N.C. Coast
• Archaeologists dispute claim that undersea wreck is that of Blackbeard's ship
• A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....03-09-05....North Carolina, The Tar Heel State
• Possible Blackbeard Ship Cannon Found
• Piracy At Sea Reaches Record High

[SunkenCiv]

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[Rebelbase]

Back in that day the Pirates were free men while everyone else was a subject.

[21twelve]

I read a historical account of Captian Kidd - backed up with a lot of facts that he wasn’t really a pirate at all. They talked about the misconception of the shull and bones as well. I recall a solid red flag was most common.

And why pirates are so fascinating? The romance and adventure. As long as we don’t get into the bloody details. Also - pirate ships were very democratic with the crew taking votes on what to do, etc. Rare in those times.