Queen Anne's Revenge

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Shipwreck reveals surgeon's link

October 21,2005

BY PATRICIA SMITH

DAILY NEWS STAFF

ATLANTIC BEACH - It was an apothecary mortar - like the ones on pharmacy logos - used with a pestle to ground medicine.

It's not exactly an item most would expect to find on a shipwreck site, unless, of course, it was found on the wreckage believed to be that of the pirate Blackbeard's flagship Queen Anne's Revenge.

"It wouldn't be surprising if there were one or more surgeons aboard," said Chris Southerly, project archaeologist for the Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project.

Historical records show three surgeons from the slave ship La Concorde were among those Blackbeard forced to stay with the vessel after the pirate took the boat in the Caribbean in 1717. The pirates renamed the ship Queen Anne's Revenge.

Later, during a weeklong blockade of Charleston Harbor in May 1718, Blackbeard demanded and received supplies to refill his medicine chest. About a month afterward, the Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground in Beaufort Inlet.

While a significant find, this medical tool was not brought up during a regular diving expedition, Southerly said. It was unearthed at the site courtesy of Hurricane Ophelia.

What concerns Southerly is that it appears the storm damaged the artifact.

Made of bronze or a copper-alloy, the mortar did not concrete on the ocean floor like the iron-made items, but it did form a thin, greenish, corrosive layer that served to stabilize and protect it over the years.

Tossing and tumbling in a storm's wave action can remove these types of corrosive layers, Southerly said.

"It looks like in several places on the artifact that it had come off in the tumbling," he said.

When conservators clean corrosive layers from artifacts, they are meticulous because not doing so can remove a layer of the artifact's original surface, Southerly said.

"In doing this you can lose makers' marks or any other identifying marks that would have been on the artifact," Southerly said.

In addition to the possible loss of important information on the mortar, underwater archaeologists also fear lighter-weight artifacts - like glassware or pieces of ceramic - may have simply washed away in the storm.

Hurricane Ophelia scoured sand from the wreckage south and southwest of the main ballast pile, exposing two cannons, an anchor and numerous small concretions.

That is the area of the shipwreck believed to be the stern of the vessel, where the officers quarters would have been and where divers are most likely to find the Blackbeard's personal items, Southerly said.

"Probably, the majority of artifacts that would have a date or some (identifying mark) would be found toward the back of the vessel unless, of course, we could find the bell," Southerly said.

In light of the damage caused by Hurricane Ophelia and the frequent other storms that pass or hit the North Carolina coast, those with the QAR Project are saying it's time for a full-scale recovery of the site.

"That's kind of the overall push over the next couple of years," said Mark Wilde-Ramsing, QAR Project director.

The crew plans to increase storage capacity at its Greenville conservation lab and work with East Carolina University for student staff support and possible funding, Wilde-Ramsing said.

The QAR Project has also requested a continuation grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation, Wilde-Ramsing said. The project received a $145,000 Golden Leaf grant this year to retrieve artifacts from the site.

Divers brought up several artifacts, including two cannons, during a month-long expedition in May. But another expedition that had been planned for September was canceled due first to the threat of a fuel shortage from Hurricane Katrina, then later because of Hurricane Ophelia and continued bad weather.

Divers plan to return to the site next week to secure it for the winter, Wilde-Ramsing said.

[Story]

Brevard County teacher could make history with discovery of shipwreck

By Tony Judnich

staff writer

November 2, 2005

BREVARD COUNTY — A flintlock pistol, a sword and a cannon possibly used by ancient mariners are making history teacher Tom Funk and his fellow ocean explorers eager for next year's diving season to arrive.

They found the weapons in late August from a shipwreck about a half-mile off Melbourne Beach, north of the Sebastian Inlet, and plan to search the wreck more when diving conditions are at their best, usually about late May to October.

Funk and his partners hope the wreck is from the famed 1715 Spanish Silver Plate Fleet. The fleet of 11 galleons set sail from Havana in 1715 laden with jewels, gold and silver, but ran into a hurricane along Florida's east coast.

"Ten of the 11 ships were destroyed," said Funk, an archaeologist who teaches history at Satellite High School, in Satellite Beach. "Seven have more or less been found."

The shipwreck sites include spots near Fort Pierce and Sebastian, and the ships' high-value cargo gave the Treasure Coast its name. For the past decade, Funk and his partners have been surveying, exploring and researching what might be another of the treasure ships, in 43 feet of water off Melbourne Beach.

While exploring the wreck in late August, they found several artifacts that boosted their hopes.

"Our artifact collection is pretty interesting," Funk said. "We have enough artifacts, I think, to show what period they belong to."

There's the intact, silver-handled pistol and what appears to be a boarding sword, which has a curved blade and was known to be used by fighting mariners. The collection also includes some cannon balls, pewter plates and a stack of silver platters, which Funk said are beautifully embossed.

"They look like a big turkey platter," he said. "We're sending (the collection) to a conservation lab for more study."

In the meantime, Funk and his partners will work on renewing the salvaging permits they need from various state agencies, such as the state Division of Historical Resources. Permitted salvagers can end up owning items they find, but 20 percent of the value of found treasure goes to the state.

The dive site worked by Funk's team stretches diagonally for perhaps a mile. The team includes members of Heartland Treasure Quest, from Georgia and Florida; Amelia Research Co., of Amelia Island; and Florida Research and Recovery, a group of investors primarily from Georgia.

A principle of Heartland Treasure Quest is Sebastian resident Rex Stocker, who was a member of the Real Eight Co. The Real Eight Co. worked with the famed Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors Inc. in the 1960s to recover millions of dollars worth of treasure from the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks.

Taffi Fisher Abt, Fisher's daughter and the director of Mel Fisher's Treasure Museum in Sebastian, said she's interested to hear more about the items found by Funk and his partners.

"It's quite possible this wreck is one of the 1715 Fleet," she said. "I have not seen any of these artifacts, and I haven't seen their log sheets, so I don't know for sure."

- tony.judnich@scripps.com