I found this story very interesting.  Can anyone give me any more
information?
Thanks.
Chuck Ellenbaum ><>
Prof of Anth & Rel St
College of DuPage
Glen Ellyn, Illinois USA
 
>>>>03:53 PM ET 03/03/97
 
North Carolina wreck likely Blackbeard's flagship
 
 
            RALEIGH, N.C. (Reuter) - Researchers believe they have found
the remnants of Blackbeard's flagship Queen Anne's Revenge, used
by the infamous English pirate during his reign of terror along
the U.S. southeast coast in the early 18th century, state
officials said Monday.
            The wreck was found last fall on the ocean floor within ``a
couple of miles'' of the beach -- 279 years after it foundered
on a sandbar off Beaufort Inlet.
            Divers recovered artifacts including a brass bell inscribed
with the year 1709, a cannon ball and a blunderbuss, a short
rifle with a broad muzzle.
            Officials said they were 80 percent certain the wreck was
that of Blackbeard's flagship.
            ``We're calling it the most important underwater
archeological discovery since the USS Monitor was found off Cape
Hatteras in 1973,'' Dr. Jeffrey Crow, director of the North
Carolina Division of Archives and History, said.
            ``We haven't absolutely identified it. But all indications
are that this is the Queen Anne's Revenge,'' he said.
            Researchers based their belief on the location of the wreck
and where Blackbeard's ship was known to have run aground, and
the artifacts, which dated the wreck to the period when he
roamed the North Carolina coast.
            The Queen Anne's Revenge, a French ship captured and rearmed
by Blackbeard in 1717, and a smaller accompanying ship, the
Adventure, were know to have run aground in June 1718, Crow
said.
            ``The divers who have seen the site report a large number of
cannon and anchors at the site. The size of the anchors would
indicate a larger ship,'' he said.
            The wreck, discovered by Intersal, Inc., a private research
firm based in Boca Raton, Florida, had not been mapped or
surveyed and its exact location was being kept secret for
security reasons.
            The state eventually will salvage the site and put recovered
artifacts on display in a museum.
            Researchers were uncertain how much of the ship might be
intact under the ocean floor. A small portion of wood was
sticking above the sand.
            Crow said if the wood had been exposed for nearly three
centuries, it would long ago have disintegrated.
            ``With two hurricanes that swept through recently, it's
quite possible that they exposed part of the ship,'' Crow
said. ``A good bit of it is probably still under the sand.''
            Crow said it was unlikely any treasure would be found on the
wreck because Blackbeard had time to remove it before the ship
was swallowed by the sea. But it could contain artifacts that
will give researchers new insight into the pirate and
18th-century maritime life.
            ``For example, we know that he had blockaded Charleston and
confiscated a large amount of medicine because his crew was
ill,'' Crow said. ``Maybe we'll find some jars of medicine that
will tell us about the diseases.''
            Blackbeard, whose real name was Edward Teach, was headed
north after his week-long blockade of Charleston harbor when
Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground on a sandbar. The Adventure
came to his aid but both ships sank.
            Blackbeard was beheaded by Royal Navy Lt. Robert Maynard
during hand-to-hand combat at Okracoke in the North Carolina
barrier islands in November 1718.
         ^REUTER@<<<<