Blackbeard Cannon to be Recovered

[Buccaneer]

Blackbeard Cannon to be Recovered

Fri, Oct 21, 2011


Scientists will raise a large cannon from Blackbeard's sunken flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, in hopes that it will offer more than the sum of its parts.
Blackbeard Cannon to be Recovered

A team of researchers led by the Department of Cultural Resources’ Underwater Archaeology Branch of North Carolina are preparing to recover an eight-foot, one-ton cannon as early as Wednesday, October 26, from the 300-year-old wreck of the notorious pirate Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge.  Encased in a cement-like concretion of sand, salt and sea life, the total encasement, along with the cannon, holds the promise of containing other artifacts.

The expectation is not unreasonable, as previous recoveries, which included 12 other cannons from the wreck, yielded artifacts from their concretions such as cannon shot, gun flints, and other items of life aboard the vessel. The process involves careful, systematic removal of the concretion layers, which could take as much as five years to complete. Says project Chief Conservator Sarah Watkins-Kenney, "Four cannons [for example] were all found to be loaded, with cannon shot and wads in place ready to be fired......Remains of rope wrapped around the muzzle of another cannon also are intriguing. Materials as fragile as rope rarely survive, so finding this vindicated the cleaning used to carefully excavate the concretion layers, rather than just knock it off to reveal the cannon.”

The 300-ton flagship sank off Beaufort Inlet in North Carolina in 1718, intentionally run aground by Blackbeard (Edward Teach) after blockading Charleston Harbor and refusing to accept an offer of a pardon by the Governor of the colony.  He escaped, but eventually had to surrender, accepting a royal pardon from the Governor in exchange for a cessation of his piracy. He returned to piracy, however, and was ultimately killed in combat.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

[Buccaneer]

Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard, in 1718, depicting the battle between Blackbeard the Pirate and Lieutenant Maynard in Ocracoke Bay

[Buccaneer]

The shipwreck was initially located in 1996 by Intersal, Inc., of Florida, a private research firm. Since then, systematic recovery and recording of the artifacts have taken place through a coordinated effort involving a number of organizations and institutions under the auspices of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. More than 280,000 artifacts have been recovered to date, including such items as shackles, a fragment of a crystal wine glass, bar shot (projectiles fired from a cannon), a nesting cup lid, and items related to rigging. 

To recover the cannon, a research vessel from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will join with a research vessel of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Marine Fisheries Division to raise it from its current resting place on the inlet floor. 

Members of the public and the press will be invited to witness the event as it occurs. If all goes as planned, the public will be able to see the recovered cannon beginning at 12:30 p.m. in front of the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort, and project officials will be available to discuss the recent findings and answer questions.

http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/september-2011/article/blackbeard-cannon-to-be-recovered