Divers Search Wreck of Blackbeard's Ship

Beaufort, N.C., Nov. 2, 2006 — -- They think his name was Edward Teach. But they know almost nothing else about him.

So what stands out most is the legend. Edward Teach became Blackbeard, the 18th-century pirate who terrorized the Carolina coast.

"He's one of these larger-than-life figures, like Robin Hood," said Richard Lawrence, director of the underwater archaeology branch of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. "That's what makes it so hard to separate the fact from the fiction."

Now, in the murky waters of the Atlantic, a mile from Beaufort, N.C., they are working on a wreck that they believe was his lead ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. Lawrence and a team of marine archaeologists are diving to it, cataloging and bringing up artifacts. We went diving with them last year; they resumed the excavation this fall.

The work is slow. They can only work when weather and funds allow. Though the wreck lies in only about 20 feet of water, it is often so muddy that divers have trouble seeing their hands in front of them.

They're in something of a race against time. The sea is gradually reclaiming what remains of the ship.

"Any time the storms pass through, or the hurricanes," said Chris Southerly, the lead archaeologist on the project, "it causes erosive scour across the site, and exposes the artifacts that are there, and quite literally sandblasts them."

So far the team has found at least 24 cannon, a bell, pewter cups, medical devices, and a small amount of gold dust. Anything made of wood -- or any other organic material, for that matter -- was probably consumed by microorganisms in the water centuries ago.

Even so, historical detective work makes it likely this ship is Blackbeard's.

"Based on our documentary evidence, the Queen Anne's Revenge is pretty much the only candidate for this wreck site to be," said Southerly.

Blackbeard first caught the eye of British naval officers when he was still on their side. In the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) he hired on as a privateer -- essentially, a naval mercenary -- to plunder French and Spanish ships on Britain's behalf.