The Truth About Blackbeard's Ship, The Queen Anne's Revenge

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

La Concorde saw an arduous journey through the Atlantic. It took longer than expected, about eight weeks, but they were now within 100 miles of Martinique. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship lost 61 slaves and 16 crewmen.

The crew began preparing for landing in Martinique when they saw the flags of Blackbeard.

Ernaut told French officials Blackbeard commanded two ships. One boat had a crew of 120 with 12 canons, and the other had 30 men and eight canons. The University of North Carolina wrote La Concorde did not put up much of a fight; after all, they already had depleted numbers, and most of the people on board were slaves. Blackbeard captured the ship quickly and even retained 10 men to staff his crew, one of which was the ship's cook. The rest were freed, including the slaves in the cargo hold. He kept the gold, of course.

The pirate took a liking to La Concorde, and it became his flagship. He renamed it Queen Anne's Revenge, after Great Britain's Queen Anne. Blackbeard served in the English Navy during Queen Anne's War in the early 1700s.

Blackbeard sailed all over the Caribbean, wrote Smithsonian Magazine, and even captured smaller ships along the way. No doubt the crew in those boats were in awe of this enormous ship now captained by a fearsome pirate.

In May 1718, however, Blackbeard blockaded the Charleston, South Carolina, port demanding medicine. As he fled to North Carolina, the ship ran aground.

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