One of Blackbeard's many killing tools.

Some 300 years ago, a man named Edward Teach was the scourge of the seven seas.  Dubbed Blackbeard, he’s one of the msot famous pirates in history, and from his home base on Ocracoke Island, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, he robbed ships, plundered loot, and even blockaded the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, in exchange for a bribe.  While Blackbeard’s treasure has remained mostly lost since his death in 1718, his ship has not.  Researchers have just recovered a 300-year-old cannon from Blackbeard’s ship.

“It was perfect. It’s a beautiful day, the crews were out earlier this morning, several boats out there witnessed it,” said Secretary Jennifer Woodward of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, which oversaw the operation in conjunction with researchers from East Carolina University.  “It looks like it’s covered in concretions, with cement all around it, and there will be lots of things attached to it.”

There have been 12 previous cannons recovered from Queen Anne’s Revenge, the former French slave ship captured by Blackbeard during his pirate adventures.  Attached to the other cannons were things like lead shot, gold, wine glass stems, and even a leg shackle from the ship’s former life as a slaving vessel.  It may take as long as 8 years to completely strip away all the concretions to get to the metal cannon itself.  The ship, scuttled in 1717, was discovered in 1996.  Recovery operations began in 1997 and are expected to continue until 2013.

Tags: Blackbeard, pirates, Blackbeard’s cannon recovered from the bottom of the ocean, archaeology, unusual discoveries, historical discoveries, Blackbeard’s cannon, Atlantic Ocean, North Carolina, East Carolina University, Edward Teach,  Jennifer Woodward, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Queen Anne’s Revenge, Ocracoke, Outer Banks of North Carolina

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