Ships: Weigh Anchor!

By now many of the Brethren are probably aware that a particularly piratical anchor, underwater for nearly 300 years, was hauled up last Friday. The event is, of course, dear to all who find the lure of legendary pirates irresistible. Given the recent surge in pop culture interest, the timing seems rather good as well.


The 3,000 pound anchor was part of a ship’s wreckage found off Beaufort, North Carolina near the outer banks island of Ocracoke. The vessel is believed to have gone down there some time in 1718 and evidence points to it being Edward “Blackbeard” Teach’s famous flagship Queen Anne’s Revenge.

According to this article at NewsObserver.com, the anchor was “… atop a pile of debris, which appears to be the remnants of the middle part of the ship.” According to Mark Wilde-Ramsing, director of the QAR Project, researchers will set about digging a small hole in the waist of the ship this week. The article indicates that they are looking for organic material in particular, hoping to find seeds and spores that may help to identify where the ship had been as she sailed around the Atlantic and Caribbean.

Previous artifacts recovered from the wreck have ranged from crockery and ceramics to delicate dagger hilts and jewelry. For information on the ongoing discoveries being found in, around and about the ship and its history, “like” the QAR Project on Facebook.

Header: Queen Anne’s Revenge via Design Context