Deep under the glimmering waters of the Bahamas, a fleet of shipwrecks linked to 18th-century pirates from the “Golden Age of Piracy” has been discovered by a team of archaeologists and filmmakers, marking the primary time the sites have ever been explored.
In a breakthrough that evokes the adventures of the famous Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, the Recent Windfall Pirates Expedition, helmed by marine archaeologist and project co-director Sean Kingsley, dived to latest depths in a previously inaccessible area of Nassau Harbour, unearthing artifacts that provided a wealth of insight into the livelihoods of real-life pirates within the region.
Nassau is the capital of Recent Windfall, the Bahamas’ most populous island, and was once a notorious pirate stronghold. In keeping with Kingsley, the team’s discoveries revealed that the pirate settlement resembled “a mixture of a cowboy frontier and an 18th-century holiday camp,” fairly than the pirate imagery often portrayed in popular culture.
In 1718, Woodes Rogers, then the governor of Recent Windfall, noted the presence of 40 shipwrecks on Nassau’s shore, in response to the expedition, but none were ever touched until now.
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“Due to Hollywood, everyone loves the legend,” Kingsley said in an announcement shared with Global News, “but beyond the fantasy, no one knows how these sea dogs really lived, what their ‘Piratetown’ looked like and what happened to the vehicles of their mayhem, wood ships.”
Rough, shark-infested seas and regular rip tides make venturing all the way down to the shipwrecks an arduous task, and a “dangerous expedition with high probabilities of finding nothing,” explorer and project filmmaker Chris Atkins said within the statement.
Through a series of dives in and around Nassau, and with guidance from local divers, six wrecks were discovered, together with iron cannons, a grinding stone for sharpening swords and lead musket balls, just 35 kilometres east of Nassau, the expedition crew confirmed, which added that it was helped along by excellent visibility and “crystal clear” waters.
A stone sharpener discovered throughout the exploration of pirate ship wrecks off the coast of Nassau.
Sean Kingsley/ The Recent Windfall Pirates Expedition
“The entire wreck was laid out before us,” project co-director Michael Pateman said.
“The ship was heavily armed, especially with swivel guns, the cannon of alternative for pirates. Slotted onto deck rails, these anti-personnel weapons raked devastating fire on enemy crews.”
Contained in the harbour, the team discovered a stone ballast pile still pinning down its charred wood hull, he continued. The ship’s planks and frames were connected by wood treenails, in typical 18th-century shipbuilding style, he explained.
“After seizing a ship and taking its cargo, cannon and fittings, pirates needed to do away with all signs of their crime. Burning ships to the waterline was an infamous tactic to cover a felony from authorities,” Pateman said.
“The Nassau hull shows all of the signs of pirate mischief.”
One other wreck, positioned beneath an old bridge, revealed hull planks, rigging, glass bottles and bricks from the vessel’s galley.
The team also unearthed dozens of clay tobacco pipes decorated with unicorns, horses and crowns, which Pateman identified because the royal crest of England, together with wood shipping crates. Their preservation was “a miracle,” he said.
Tobacco pipes discovered on a pirate shipwreck off the coast of Nassau.
Sean Kingsley/ The Recent Windfall Pirates Expedition
The discoveries were documented for a series produced by Kingsley and Atkins for Wreckwatch TV, together with a historically accurate 3D digital model of Nassau’s Piratetown around 1715.
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