''Queen Anne's Revenge'' was an early-18th-century ship, most famously used as a flagship by Edward Teach, better known by his nickname

Blackbeard Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known abou ...

. Although the date and place of the ship's construction are uncertain, it was originally believed she was built for merchant service in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1710 and named ''Concord'', later captured by French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s and renamed ''La Concorde''. After several years' service by French sailors (both as a naval frigate and as a merchant vessel – much of the time as a slave trading ship), she was captured by Blackbeard in 1717. Blackbeard used the ship for less than a year, but captured numerous prizes using her as his flagship. In May 1718, Blackbeard ran the ship aground at Topsail Inlet, now known as Beaufort Inlet,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, in the present-day Carteret County. After the grounding, her crew and supplies were transferred to smaller ships. In 1996, Intersal Inc., a private firm, discovered the remains of a vessel that was later determined to be ''Queen Anne's Revenge'', which was added to the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

History

The ship that would be known as ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' was a 200-ton vessel believed to have been built in 1710. She was handed over to René Duguay-Trouin and employed in his service for some time before being converted into a

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

, then operated by the leading slave trader René Montaudin of Nantes, until sold in 1713 in Peru or Chile. She was briefly re-acquired by the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

in November 1716, but was sold by them for commerce five months later in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, again for use as a slaver. She was captured by

and his pirates on 28 November 1717, near the island of Saint Vincent in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. After selling her cargo of slaves at

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

, Blackbeard made the vessel into his flagship, adding more heavy

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

and renaming her ''Queen Anne's Revenge''. The name may come from the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, known in the Americas as

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...

, in which Blackbeard had served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, or possibly from sympathy for the Jacobite cause ( Queen Anne being the last Stuart monarch). Blackbeard sailed this ship from the west coast of Africa to the Caribbean, attacking British, Dutch, and Portuguese merchant ships along the way. Shortly after blockading Charleston harbor in May 1718, and refusing to accept the Governor's offer of the King's Pardon, Blackbeard ran ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' aground while entering Beaufort Inlet,

on 10 June 1718. A deposition given by David Herriot, the former captain of the sloop ''Adventure'', states "Thatch's each'sship ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' run a-ground off of the Bar of Topsail-Inlet." He also states that ''Adventure'' "run a-ground likewise about Gun-shot from the said Thatch" in an attempt to

kedge Warping or kedging is a method of moving a sailing vessel, typically against the wind or out from a dead calm, by hauling on a line attached to a kedge anchor, a sea anchor or a fixed object, such as a bollard. In small boats, the anchor may be thr ...

''Queen Anne's Revenge'' off the bar.D. Moore. (1997) "A General History of Blackbeard the Pirate, the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Adventure". In ''Tributaries'', Volume VII, 1997. pp. 31–35. (North Carolina Maritime History Council) Blackbeard then disbanded his flotilla and escaped by transferring supplies onto the smaller ''Adventure''. He stranded several crew members on a small island nearby, where they were later rescued by Captain

Stede Bonnet Stede Bonnet (1688 – 10 December 1718) was an early 18th-century English/Barbadian pirate, also known as the Gentleman Pirate for the reason that he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born in ...

. Some suggest Blackbeard deliberately grounded the ship as an excuse to disperse the crew. Shortly afterward, he surrendered and accepted the King's Pardon for himself and his remaining crewmen from Governor Charles Eden at Bath, North Carolina. However, Blackbeard returned to piracy later that year and was killed in combat in November 1718.

Discovery and excavation

Intersal Inc., a private research firm, discovered the wreck believed to be ''Queen Anne’s Revenge'' on November 21, 1996. It was located by Intersal's director of operations, Mike Daniel, who used historical research provided by the company's president, Phil Masters and maritime archaeologist David Moore. The shipwreck lies in 28 feet (8.5 m) of water about one mile (1.6 km) offshore of

Fort Macon State Park Fort Macon State Park is a North Carolina state park in Carteret County, North Carolina, in the United States. Located on Bogue Banks near Atlantic Beach, the park opened in 1936. Fort Macon State Park is the second most visited state park in No ...

(34°41′44″N 76°41′20″W), Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. On 3 March 1997, the governor of North Carolina, James B. Hunt held a press conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. He stated: "The state of North Carolina is working to protect the site and will do everything we can to that end. We look forward to the day when all North Carolinians can see these exciting artifacts for themselves." Thirty-one cannons have been identified to date and more than 300,000 artifacts have been recovered. The cannons are of different origins including Sweden, England and possibly France, and of different sizes as would be expected with a colonial pirate crew. Recognizing the significance of ''Queen Anne's Revenge'', the

North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is a cabinet-level department within the state government of North Carolina dedicated to overseeing projects in the arts, culture, and history within the borders of the state. The cur ...

(NCDNCR), Intersal, and Maritime Research Institute (MRI) entered into a memorandum of agreement in 1998. Intersal agreed to forgo entitlement to any coins and precious metals recovered from the wreck site in order that all artifacts remain as one intact collection, and in order for NCDNCR to determine the ultimate disposition of the artifacts. In return, Intersal was granted media, replica, and other rights related to an entity known as Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project; MRI was granted joint artifact touring rights with NCDNCR. NCDNCR, Intersal, and Rick Allen of Nautilus Productions signed a settlement agreement on October 24, 2013, connected to commercial, replica, and promotional opportunities for the benefit of ''Queen Anne's Revenge''. The State of North Carolina owns the wreck since it lies in state waters (within the three-mile limit). For one week in 2000 and 2001, live underwater video of the project was webcast to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

as a part of the ''QAR DiveLive'' educational program that reached thousands of children around the world. Created and co-produced by Nautilus Productions and Marine Grafics, this project enabled students to talk to scientists and learn about methods and technologies utilized by the

underwater archaeology Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance has ...

team. In November 2006 and 2007, more artifacts were discovered at the site and brought to the surface. The additional artifacts appear to support the claim that the wreck is that of ''Queen Anne's Revenge''. Among evidence to support this theory is that the cannons were found loaded. In addition, there were more cannons than would be expected for a ship of this size, and the cannons were of different makes. Depth markings on the part of the stern that was recovered point to it having been made according to the French foot measurements. By the end of 2007, approximately one third of the wreck was fully excavated. Part of the hull of the ship, including much of the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

and part of the stern post, has survived. The stern post was recovered in November 2007. The NCDNCR set up the website ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' to build on intense public interest in the finds. Artifacts recovered in 2008 include loose ceramic and

pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. Copper and antimony (and in antiquity lead) act as hardeners, but lead may be used in lower grades ...

fragments, lead strainer fragments, a nesting weight, cannon apron, ballast stones, a sword guard and a coin. Goals during the 2010 field season included staging of one of the ship's largest main deck cannons to the large artifact holding area on site, taking corrosion readings from anchors and cannon undergoing ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

'' corrosion treatment, attaching aluminum-alloy anodes to the remaining anchors and cannons so as to begin their ''in situ'' corrosion treatment and continuing site excavations. In 2011 the anchor from the ship was brought to the surface, along with a range of makeshift weaponry including langrage or

canister shot Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies. However, canister shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various ...

. On August 29, 2011, the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...

reported that the State of North Carolina had confirmed the shipwreck as ''Queen Anne's Revenge'', reversing a conclusion previously maintained because of a lack of conclusive evidence. Specific artifacts that support this conclusion include a brass coin weight bearing the bust of Queen Anne of England, cast during her reign (1702–1714); the stem of a wine glass decorated with diamonds and tiny embossed crowns, made to commemorate the 1714 coronation of Queen Anne's successor, King George I; the remains of a French hunting sword featuring a bust that closely resembles

King Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

, who claimed the French throne in 1715; and a urethral syringe for treating

venereal disease Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, especi ...

s with a control mark indicating manufacture between 1707 and 1715 in Paris, France. On June 21, 2013, the National Geographic Society reported recovery of two cannons from ''Queen Anne's Revenge''. Several months later, on October 28, archaeologists recovered five more cannons from the wreck. Three of these have been identified as iron 6-pounders manufactured at Ehrendals works in

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...

, Sweden, in 1713. Thomas Roth, the head of Sweden's Armament Museum Research Department, derived the origin of the iron cannons by a mark on their tubes. The 23rd of 31 cannons identified at the wreck site was recovered on October 24, 2014. The gun is approximately long, weighs over and may be a sister to a Swedish gun that was previously recovered. Nine cannonballs, bar shot halves, an iron bolt and a

grenado A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern ...

were also recovered during the 2014 field season. Archaeological recovery ceased on the shipwreck after the 2015 season because of lawsuits filed against the State of North Carolina, the NCDNCR, and the Friends of the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' nonprofit. Intersal, which discovered the ''Queen Anne's Revenge,'' filed suit in state court over contract violations. In a unanimous decision on November 2, 2019, the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

affirmed Intersal's complaint and voted to send the lawsuit back to complex business court for reconsideration. In 2015, the state government of North Carolina uploaded videos of the wreck of the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' to its website without permission. As a result, Nautilus Productions, the company documenting the recovery since 1998, filed suit in federal court over

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

violations and the passage of "Blackbeard's Law" by the North Carolina legislature. Before posting the videos the North Carolina Legislature passed "Blackbeard's Law", N.C. Gen Stat §121-25(b), which stated, "All photographs, video recordings, or other documentary materials of a derelict vessel or shipwreck or its contents, relics, artifacts, or historic materials in the custody of any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions shall be a public record pursuant to Chapter 132 of the General Statutes." On November 5, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in ''Allen v. Cooper''. On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of North Carolina and struck down the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act, which Congress passed in 1989 to attempt to curb such infringements of copyright by states, in '' Allen v. Cooper''. In January 2018, sixteen fragments of paper were identified after being recovered from sludge inside a cannon. The scraps were from a copy of the book '' A Voyage to the South Sea, and Round the World, Perform'd in the Years 1708, 1709, 1710 and 1711'' by Captain Edward Cooke, in which Cooke travels under

Woodes Rogers Woodes Rogers ( 1679 – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer, slave trader and, from 1718, the first Royal Governor of the Bahamas. He is known as the captain of the vessel that rescued marooned Alexander Selkirk, whose ...

; it is likely the pages were torn from the book and used as

wadding Wadding is a disc of material used in guns to seal gas behind a projectile (a bullet or ball), or to separate the propellant from loosely packed shots. Wadding can be crucial to a gun's efficiency, since any gas that leaks past a projectile as i ...

in that cannon. A portion of the objects and artifacts found at the shipwreck have been given on long-term loan to the Smithsonian and are on display in the National Museum of American History. Additionally, some artifacts have been loaned to the Musée National de la Marine in Paris.

National Register of Historic Places

''Queen Anne's Revenge'' was added to the

in 2004. The reference number is 04000148. It is listed as owned by the State of North Carolina and located near

Morehead City Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hist ...

. The wreck site is designated 31CR314 by the state of North Carolina.

In popular culture

* "Queen Anne's Revenge" is the title of a song by American Celtic punk band

Flogging Molly Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now
Floggingmolly.c ...

, from their 2004 album ''

Within a Mile of Home ''Within a Mile of Home'' is the third studio album by the Celtic punk band Flogging Molly. Released in 2004, the album reached No. 20 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 chart and No. 1 on the Independent Music chart. The album is dedicated to Joe St ...

''. *"Queen Anne's Revenge" is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

song recorded by The Sean J. Kennedy Quartet featuring drummer Liberty DeVitto. *''Queen Anne's Revenge'' appears in the 2011 film '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', portrayed by ''Sunset'', a ship which previously portrayed the ''

Black Pearl The ''Black Pearl'' (formerly known as the ''Wicked Wench'') is a fictional ship in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. In the screenplay, the ''Black Pearl'' is easily recognized by her distinctive black hull and sails. Captained by ...

'' in the film's predecessors: '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' and '' Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''. This incarnation of the ship was shown to shoot Greek fire from its prow. ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' also appeared in the '' Pirates of the Caribbean Online''

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

. The ship returned in the 2017 film '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales'' where it served as the flagship of

Hector Barbossa Captain Hector Barbossa is a fictional character of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' franchise, appearing in all five films in the series. Starting out as a villainous undead pirate in '' The Curse of the Black Pearl'' (2003), the character dies ...

's pirate fleet. *It appears in the video game '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...

. The ship is briefly playable during a mission to assist Blackbeard. *It appears in

Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million co ...

's 2006 novel '' The Sea of Monsters'', in which

Percy Jackson Perseus "Percy" Jackson is a fictional character, the title character and narrator of Rick Riordan's ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. He is also one of seven main protagonists of the sequel series '' The Heroes of Olympus'', appear ...

and Annabeth Chase find the ship docked on

Circe Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vas ...

's island and steal it to sail through the

Sea of Monsters The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

, the ship's crew having been captured by Circe long before and transformed into hamsters. As the son of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

, Percy proves to be able to sail the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' through just his willpower alone. It is sunk near the end of the book by

Polyphemus Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and leg ...

who hits it with giant boulders. *The ship appears in the 2018 '' DC's Legends of Tomorrow'' episode "The Curse of the Earth Totem". *The ship also appears in the 2004 remake of the video game ''

Sid Meier's Pirates! ''Sid Meier's Pirates!'' is a video game created by Sid Meier for the Commodore 64 and published by MicroProse in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's ear ...

'' at first as an NPC ship captained by Blackbeard, but which can be captured and used as a player ship if the player defeats Blackbeard in battle. * '' Lego Pirates of the Caribbean'' also features ''Queen Anne's Revenge''. * The ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' is featured in the 2015 movie '' Pan'' as the flagship of the fleet of flying pirate ships used by Blackbeard and the pirates of

Neverland Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. Altho ...

. * The ship is used by Blackbeard in the third and fourth season of the TV series '' Black Sails'' (2014-2018). * "Месть королевы Анны" (Russian for Queen Anne's Revenge) is the title of a song by

Russian Rock Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground ro ...

band Aquarium, from their album ''Tor''. * '' Queen Anne’s Revenge'' is featured in the mobile game ''Fate/Grand Order'' as Blackbeard's Noble Phantasm.

References

External links