Archaeologists on Friday off North Carolina coast raised an anchor from the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship that pirate Blackbeard and his crew intentionally grounded off the North Carolina coast in 1718.
The nearly 3,000-pound anchor is the largest artifact yet recovered from the wreck of the notorious pirate's flagship.
Anchor from Blackbeard's ship raised after 293 years off North Carolina coast!
Photo Credit: Robert Willett, Raleigh News & Observer
Queen Anne's Revenge was originally a French slave ship that Blackbeard and his band captured in the fall of 1717. Blackbeard, an Englishman whose real name was thought to be Edward Teach, was killed by British sailors in a battle near Ocracoke in 1718.
Next week, researchers hope to dig a small test hole into the pile where the anchor was removed to get a sense of what else might be hidden there.
