Brit diver finds ‘ships of mayhem’ linked to Blackbeard and Calico Jack in shark-infested waters

A British diver has found six 300-year-old pirate shipwrecks linked Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham in a groundbreaking expedition in shark-filled Bahamas waters

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A British diver has discovered the final resting places of the first shipwrecks ever targeted by the real-life Pirates of the Caribbean. The watery graves, plunged to the bottom of the ocean in the Bahamas over 300 years ago, have been tied to legendary sea scoundrels Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham, who terrorised the waves between the 1690s and 1720s.

In a groundbreaking expedition, a research team has successfully located six wrecks sitting at the bottom of a shark-riddled Bahamian bay.

Three of the doomed vessels have been traced directly back to the “golden age of piracy” – an era when bloodthirsty raiders would strip ships of their valuable cargo before torching them and sending them to Davy Jones’ Locker.

Among the notorious figures of the age was Pirate King Henry Avery, who famously plundered a vessel for its gold and silver before burning it to the waterline off the coast of Nassau.

Avery’s legendary raid on the Fancy, a massive 46-gun ship hijacked by the pirate lord, is widely considered the greatest heist in maritime history.

The staggering bounty of gold, diamonds and sapphires was worth a jaw-dropping £85million in today’s money.

A team spearheaded by British marine archaeologist Dr Sean Kingsley and Bahamian expert Dr Michael Pateman now believe they have located the charred remnants of this very vessel.

The scorched timbers were found scattered across the seabed near the infamous pirate sanctuary of Nassau on New Providence island.

Speaking about the monumental find, Dr Kingsley told The Sun: “As a scientist, finding a wooden hull from the Golden Age was the greatest treasure – being able to touch an actual vehicle of mayhem on whose decks the real pirates of the Caribbean walked or stole was a remarkable time-travelling moment.”

Dr Kingsley, who has investigated over 350 historic shipwrecks, published his underwater adventures in Wreckwatch, a magazine devoted to maritime history.

The latest astonishing find revealed wreckage bristling with heavy weaponry, including an iron cannon, 25 lead musket balls, and a sharpening stone used to keep cutlasses deadly sharp.

Dr Michael Pateman, co-leader of the project, described the ferocious attack ships as “heavily armed, especially with swivel guns, the cannon of choice for pirates. Slotted onto deck rails, these anti-personnel weapons raked devastating fire on enemy crews.”

During the peak of the lawless pirate reign in 1718, the governor of New Providence recorded seeing 40 separate vessels burned and scuttled along the Caribbean shores.

Hunting for the lost relics was far from a walk in the park. The waters surrounding Nassau are teeming with aggressive packs of sharks.

The crew spotted the deadly predators circling from their expedition boat before they even geared up to dive. While the local Bahamian divers took the underwater killers in their stride, Kingsley admitted to feeling the pressure.

He said: “I tried to block out any threat and focus on recording the ancient wrecks, and pretending I was zen-like.”

Another 18th-century wreck site was actively guarded by a menacing bull shark, but the team braved the danger anyway and were stunned by what they uncovered.

Kingsley said: “We decided to take a look and were shocked to see hull planks, rigging, glass bottles and bricks from the ship’s cooking galley still preserved. Dozens of clay tobacco pipes were sticking out of the sand next to splintered wooden shipping crates.”

The sunken vessel is believed to have originated in England. The recovered pipes were adorned with a unicorn, a horse, a crown and the English royal crest, dating the cargo to London around the 1740s.

While the contents of the crates have “long decomposed into oblivion,” according to Kingsley, he remains confident that the incredible discoveries are just the beginning.