Expedition to ‘real home of the pirates of the Caribbean’ hopes to unearth ships and treasure | Piracy at sea

The Caribbean pirates are a deductible from 4.5 billion dollars swashbuckling films and Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham are among the Maraude Buccaneers who have captured the imagination over the centuries.

But almost nothing is known on the life and times of real hackers.

From now on, a leading British marine archaeologist is coaching an authorized expedition for the first time to search for pirate ships off Nassau on the island of New Providence, a notorious pirate hiding place 300 years ago.

Nobody had so far explored the seabed for their ships and their treasures, not to mention daily goods which could be as precious for historical research as a reserve of emeralds, said Dr. Sean Kingsley.

“The potential is enormous,” he added. “We expect to find really cool things because it is the real house of the Caribbean pirates. The pirates did not keep newspapers listing their anarchy. What happened in Nassau remained in Nassau. If we want to discover the truth, we will have to dive for that.”

The Bahamas were a major crossroads for trade and more than 500 ships have been destroyed from New Providence since the 1680s, according to historical sources. But there may be tens more, with hackers among them.

In 1718, when Woodes Rogers sailed to Nassau to become his governor, he noted 40 vessels on the shore that had been “burned or sunk” to destroy evidence and “about 700 pirates”.

In 1696, the Corsaire Henry Avery headed for Nassau in his ship, The Fancy, responsible for loot. He used part of the Treasury to bribe the Governor of the Bahamas, establishing Nassau as a basis for his pirate colleagues.

The top of the most advanced success list of wrecks is The Fancy, a flagship product of 46 guns.

Kingsley said: “Avery de Plymouth turned on the fuse and launched the grenade which started the golden age of hacking after looting a Mughal treasure ship of $ 108 million in the rebel.

“Avery has scuttled fantasy in Nassau. These are the jewels of the crown of pirate ships. If we owed something associated with it, it would be spectacular. Its looting was the largest and most successful pirate robbery on the high seas. ”

The expedition of the new Pirates Providence – dedicated to science, education, entertainment and tourism in the Bahamas – is based on historical and archaeological evidence to conduct the first underwater survey, which begins in September.

The project obtained the very first agreement with antiques, monuments and corporation museums of the Bahamas, partner collaborator.

Kingsley has explored more than 350 ships in the past 30 years and is the editor -in -chief of Wreckwatch, the only world magazine dedicated to the swallowed past.

The affiliate Wreckwatch TV collaborates with the new expedition of Pirates Providence to bring back “the history, the ruined landscape and the sea dogs of the golden age of piracy between 1696 and 1730 in life” through a documentary, the mystery of the treasury of the Pirate King.

The film’s co-director, Chris Atkins, said: “The Bahamas, with its Azuric waters and its crystalline submarine visibility, is the dream of a filmmaker. For the first time in history, viewers will see with their own eyes the places where Blackbeard and Gang terrorize the Americas.

“Somewhere there, the bottles of wine with which they celebrated, the tobacco pipes they smoked, the pieces of eight negligently lost and much more. It is a unique opportunity to get closer and get closer to the real Pirates of the Caribbean. ”

When asked how they identify the pirate shipwrecks, Kingsley said: “Generally, if you find a Dutch, English or French sinking, it has a very specific type of material culture. If he is Spanish, he will have olive pots, a good marker. If he is British, he can have tobacco pipes in Bristol or London, for example.

“On a pirate wreck, you will find French, English and Dutch ceramics and a mixture of coins, everything, from Arabia to British, and weapons such as stinkpots, explosive weapons used by pirates.”

Dr. Michael Pateman, co -director of the expedition and ambassador of history, culture and music of the Bahamas, said: “This is the first project to rebuild the port and the landscape where Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny and the rest of the notorious flight gang were based. Everything could still be there. ”