Cannons of the Queen Anne’s Revenge
Yarr! Undersea archaeologists in North Carolina have pulled up cannons from the wreck they believe to be the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the 40-gun attack ship of Capt. Ed Teach, aka, Blackbeard the Pirate.
From Fox News here:
State underwater archaeologists on Monday raised a cannon from a sunken ship that could have belonged to the pirate Blackbeard.
The roughly 8-foot-long cannon weighs about 2,500 pounds and was pulled from an ongoing excavation at the presumed site of the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
The cannon will be on display Wednesday at the N.C. Maritime Museum expansion site at Gallants Channel in Beaufort. Historians believe Blackbeard’s ship — the Queen Anne’s Revenge — ran aground in Beaufort Inlet in June 1718.
What makes the Queen Anne’s Revenge so cool is it was the largest and meanest pirate ship to ever sail the Spanish Main. It was originally supposed to have 26 guns. When Blackbeard captured it, he added 14 more.
Most merchant ships had at most 8 to twelve guns. When they encountered the overwhelming firepower of the QAR, there was rarely an argument, and they struck their colors quick. And the QAR also ran a successful blockade of an American City, Charleston. Blackbeard captured several ships that he ransomed for a medicine chest and other valuables.
The North Carolina Maritime Museum’s Homepage for the QAR is pretty slick. You can access it here and read all about one of the most notorious pirates ever.
