Tag Archives: Pirate

The Tale of Pyrates (sic) Anne Bonny & Mary Read

Anne Bonny & Mary Read from General History of the PyratesThis week, Smithsonian Magazine highlights the only two women convicted of piracy in the 18th century: Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Both women were known for their cunning and ruthlessness. Originally, the two women were forced to hide their gender while serving on privateering and pirating ships.

As most Captains (of legally and illegally operating vessels) banned women from serving and even stepping foot on their ships (Blackbeard reportedly ordered all female captives to be strangled and cast overboard), they protected their precarious ‘position’ by disguising themselves as men. Both women participated in raids (often bloody and dangerous), were fingered in committing violent crimes (Bonny reportedly stabbed a fellow sailor in the heart to protect her identity as a woman on a sailing vessel), and ultimately served lengthy stays in prison for their participation in piracy (a capital offense in the 18th century).

To read more about these fascinating figures in history, check out the Smithsonian’s’ article “If There’s a Man Among Ye: The Tale of Pirate Queens Anne Bonny and Mary Read.”

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Lost Fleet of Captain Morgan Found?

Underwater archaeologists have uncovered the remains of what they believe are three ships that belonged to the infamous Welsh privateer Captain Henry Morgan.

Morgan was an English privateer (a common euphemism for political pirates) that targeted the Spanish fleet during the 17th century. Henry Morgan was, arguably, the most successful and bloodthirsty of the English pirates operating in the region under the official sanction of the British monarchy.

In 1671, Morgan and his men lay siege to the Spanish Fort Castillo de San Lorenzo in Panama. While ultimately successful, he lost his flag ship and several other vessels in the process.

Archaeologists of the wrecks have uncovered a series of wooden planks, 17th century canons, and the odds and ends one would expect on a sea-faring vessel of the day (but no gold). To read more about the find, check out the video and article at MSNBC.

More From Excavations of Blackbeard’s Ship – the Queen Anne’s Revenge

Yesterday, I posted on Archaeologists success in raising the anchor of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Another article from Britain’s Telegraph highlights the archaeologists achievements and goals in this project. You can read the full Telegraph Article here.

Blackbeard the Pirate, aka Edward Teach, sailed the waters of the Caribbean and the Atlantic in the 18th century in his flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge until it was sunk off the coast of North Carolina in 1718. Blackbeard was killed in combat a few months later.