Queen Anne's Revenge dive expedition begins this week

From Star News Online  Queen Anne's Revenge dive expedition begins this week


Researchers led by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources' Underwater Archaeology Branch rest a recovered 2,000-pound cannon from the Queen Anne's Revenge on the back of a research vessel on Oct. 26, 2011, in Beaufort. Photo by The Jacksonville Daily News/Chuck Beckley

The artifacts raised from the Queen Anne's Revenge shipwreck site in the coming weeks will be smaller in size but big in excitement.

An eight-week dive expedition begins this week with final preparations for work in Beaufort Inlet at the wreckage of the ship considered to be the flagship of the infamous pirate Blackbeard.
While divers with the N.C. Underwater Archaeology Branch – which is based at Fort Fisher – aren't planning to bring up any of the remaining cannons or anchors during this dive, they will be excavating from the forward hold area on the east side of the wreck site, which correlates to the lower portion of the ship.
The QAR team is expecting to find ballast stones and smaller artifacts, but the excitement is in the unknown as it's a lesser explored area of the shipwreck.