First Pirate Shipwrecks Discovered in Bahamas Waters

An international research team led by a British marine archaeologist has discovered the first confirmed pirate shipwrecks in the Bahamas, off the coast of Nassau—once a notorious haven for pirates like Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham. The team was granted special permission to dive in the area.

Archaeologists found six wrecks, three of which date from the 'golden age of piracy' (late 17th to early 18th centuries). One striking find is a blackened wooden hull still weighed down by ballast stones, a classic sign of pirate activity: pirates often burned prize ships after stripping them of cargo, cannons, and gear.

The team also recovered a swivel gun—a favored anti-personnel weapon used to sow chaos on enemy decks—along with an iron cannon and 25 lead musket balls. A sword sharpening stone was also among the artifacts. These finds exceeded expectations, given the area's extensive dredging.

Dr. Sean Kingsley, a British marine archaeologist and co-director of the project, said: 'These finds are just the tip of the iceberg. I was amazed to see intact wooden hulls—ships were pirates' primary tools of terror. There could be dozens more wrecks inside and outside the harbor.' Of the burned hull, he added: 'Seeing and touching it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime, emotional moment.'

In 1695, Henry Avery became the most wanted criminal of his time after history's most brazen pirate heist, stealing gold, silver, jade, sapphires, and diamonds worth over £85 million today. Upon finding the charred hull with wooden pegs joining its timbers, archaeologists wondered whether it could be Avery's command ship, the Fancy, burned to the waterline.

Dr. Michael Pateman, co-director of the expedition and Bahamas ambassador for history, culture, and museology, explained: 'Burning a ship to the waterline was a notorious tactic to hide crimes from authorities. The Nassau hull shows every sign of pirate activity.' He added: 'The vessel was heavily armed, especially with swivel guns... Mounted on deck rails, these anti-personnel weapons unleashed devastating fire on enemy crews.'

The discovery is especially significant because while a few pirate wrecks have been found between Mauritius and North Carolina, none had ever been found in Nassau—the Caribbean pirate base in the Bahamas—until now, Kingsley noted.

The team also found preserved rope, glass bottles, and ship's galley bricks, along with 143 clay tobacco pipes, some still stuck in sand near broken wooden casks. The pipes are decorated with unicorns, horses, crowns, and British royal coats of arms, suggesting they were made in London around the 1740s.

Kingsley remarked: 'No other tobacco pipes have been found in shipwreck cargoes. The vessel was likely British and arrived in Nassau just after the pirate threat was crushed. The survival of this wreck, heavily damaged by coastal development, is a miracle. The merchant cargo of bottled wine and fine pipes shows Nassau had become a normal commercial port, recovering from pirate chaos.'

The New Providence Pirates expedition, involving international archaeologists and filmmakers, studied 300-year-old documents and antique charts between dives and explored caves where pirates once hid treasure. The findings are featured in the first episode of the documentary Mystery of the Pirate King's Treasure and in Wreckwatch magazine.