This sounds like something out of an Indiana Jones adventure with a little bit of Dirk Pitt thrown in.
The wreckage of a pirate ship abandoned by Captain Kidd in the 17th century has been found by divers in shallow waters off the Dominican Republic, a research team claims.
The underwater archaeology team, from Indiana University, says they have found the remains of Quedagh Merchant, actively sought by treasure hunters for years.
The vessel in question is the Quedah Merchant. The last straw in a less than lustrous career for a man who thought he was doing the crown’s wishes. Kidd was forced to keep this “prize” by a mutinous crew that looted and burned the vessel when he left them in the Caribbean to defend himself against piracy charges.
(Indiana University? Okay, they are bounded by Lake Michigan, the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, but what the hey are they doing in the Caribbean? One would think a university closer to the scene would have a more active underwater archaeology team, but no, IU happens to have a world renowned team. Who’d have thunk it. )
It is remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location, just 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic in less than 10 feet of seawater.
"I've been on literally thousands of shipwrecks in my career," Beeker said. "This is one of the first sites I've been on where I haven't seen any looting. We've got a shipwreck in crystal clear, pristine water that's amazingly untouched. We want to keep it that way, so we made the announcement now to ensure the site's protection from looters."
Amazing that in an area where you would suspect there would be people fishing, diving and just plain out and about on the water a find like this can still be made.
According to the Wikipedia entry, Captain Kidd was one of the least successful of privateers/pirates. Even his capture of the vessel Quedah Merchant bearing a rich cargo and flying under an Armenian flag, was questionable as Kidd himself realized when he tried to persuade his crew to return the ship to its English captain. Unable to control his own crew, Kidd was doomed. Having lost the support of his backers (probably because he was less successful than they would have liked and because he was a bit of an incompetent leader), Kidd was convicted on one count of murder (one of his crew) and five counts of piracy. Available evidence that might have justified his acts of "piracy" was never presented at court. He was sentenced to be hung by a British court. His body remained in a cage hanging above the River Thames for two years as a warning to any and all pirates.
2 comments:
Now that is seriously cool.
I'm kind of surprised that they made the announcement, though, to ensure it is protected from looters.
I would think that, in order to protect it from looters, they wouldn't make any announcement, but clandestinely rush to preserve it, somehow.
But damn, a real pirate ship! Can you imagine??
Has the study of history been so neglected that an article can be written that calls privateers "people who capture pirates" !! A privateer was one who was licensed by a sovereign to capture ships of an enemy. A navy on the cheap so to speak. But I doubt that any of them ever captured a pirate.
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