Blackbeard’s Sunken Flagship Has Stories to Tell

Queen Anne’s Revenge Gives Up Its Secrets Slowly 

Almost 30 years ago, the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR), was discovered off the coast of Beaufort, North Carolina. Since then, archaeologists have recovered and analyzed hundreds of thousands of artifacts. Ship parts and equipment, armaments, navigational and medical instruments, personal effects and everyday items for food preparation and life aboard the ship are all part of the inventory. 

To make the QAR wreck even more complex, the ship was called La Concorde before its capture by Blackbeard. It was used to transport about 1,265 African men, women and children from West Africa to the Americas to be sold into slavery. 

In 1996, some initial artifacts, including a bronze bell dated 1705, were brought to the surface. Initial study led researchers to believe they had found the QAR. Archaeologists used remote sensing, dug exploratory trenches and mapped the exposed remains to understand the site and size of the shipwreck. 

By studying the artifacts, archaeologists hope to learn more about 18th-century naval technology, colonial life, the slave trade and the material culture of piracy. 

The ship ran aground off the coast of Beaufort in 1718 and lay undiscovered until 1996, when it was found by Intersal Inc. Recovery operations began one year later under the direction of the NC Office of State Archaeology’s Underwater Archaeology Branch. 

Everything recovered from the wreck is taken to the QAR Conservation Lab at East Carolina University’s West Research Campus in Greenville. 

Almost every artifact is covered with a heavy layer of corrosion and marine life, called concretions, brought about by being in seawater for hundreds of years. Some items can be identified by physical examination. Others need to be studied using x-rays. All the artifacts require years of treatment to remove the concretions and be preserved. 

Learn more at the NC Science Festival 

This year, the NC Science Festival will offer the public a chance to learn about Blackbeard and get an update on the latest findings about the wreck of the QAR. 

A free event on April 5 in Greenville entitled “QAR Lab: The Science of Archaeology and Conservation” will share how conservators and archaeologists use chemistry, art, physics, technology and more to recover and conserve artifacts from the ship. 

“The QAR Lab tour is a great example of how the science festival engages folks with a hands-on science event in which you learn a lot but also have fun,” said Erik MacIntosh, community engagement manager with Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, which runs the festival. “This year’s festival theme is ‘Everyday, Everywhere and Everyone,’ and while underwater archaeology and Blackbeard don’t touch our lives every day, the pirate is part of North Carolina’s history, and it’s important we learn about him.” 

The QAR Lab tour is just one of the events at the 2025 NC Science Festival, a monthlong celebration of science throughout the state. This year’s festival features almost 550 events in all 100 counties. It also marks the 15th year for the festival. 

Visit the NC Science Festival’s website to learn more about the QAR Lab tour and other events.

To learn more about Blackbeard and pirates, watch this story from Rogue History.