Posted on 12/13/2007 10:43:49 AM PST by SpringheelJack
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.
Charles Beeker of IU said his team has been licensed to study the wreckage and convert the site into an underwater preserve for the public.
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."
The find is valuable because of what it could reveal about William Kidd and piracy in the Caribbean, said John Foster, California's state underwater archaeologist, who is participating in the research.
Historians differ on whether Kidd was actually a pirate or a privateer — someone who captured pirates. After his conviction of piracy and murder charges in a sensational London trial, he was left to hang over the River Thames for two years.
Historians write that Kidd captured the Quedagh Merchant, loaded with valuable satins and silks, gold, silver and other East Indian merchandise, but left the ship in the Caribbean as he sailed to New York on a less conspicuous sloop to clear his name of the criminal charges.
IU Anthropologist Geoffrey Conrad said the men Kidd entrusted with his ship reportedly looted it and then set it ablaze and adrift down the Rio Dulce. Conrad said the location of the wreckage and the formation and size of the canons, which had been used as ballast, are consistent with historical records of the ship. They also found pieces of several anchors under the cannons.
"All the evidence that we find underwater is consistent with what we know from historical documentation, which is extensive," Conrad said. "Through rigorous archeological investigations, we will conclusively prove that this is the Capt. Kidd shipwreck."
The IU team examined the shipwreck at the request of the Dominican Republic's Oficina Nacional De Patrimonio Cultural Subacuático.
"The site was initially discovered by a local prominent resident of Casa De Campo, who recognized the significance of the numerous cannons and requested the site be properly investigated," said ONPCS Technical Director Francis Soto. "So, I contacted IU."
One of my wife’s distant relatives was supposedly hanged in the Thames along with Capt. Kidd...
Your ancestor figures in Capt. Kidd's last words at the gallows (or, at least, the broadside that was written for him and hawked to the crowd as he danced on air.)
Just as the 'last goodnight' of the Idle 'Prentice is being hawked by the lady with the baby in the center foreground of Hogarth's print.
When I have time I’ll have to find a book I read last year on the “TRUE story of Captain Kidd”. Actually, it was very well documented. He was hired as a privateer by a group of businessmen in New York and with the backing of the King of England. His commission was to attack pirate ships and other enemy ships of opportunity. Kidd attacked a ship flying a French flag - but the ship was actualy English. He let the Captain and the crew go free but kept the ship and the plunder as that was legal to do. (It mattered what flag it was flying at the time, not the actual ownership).
Of course the Indian Khan (or someone in the east who was shipping the supplies) was pissed, and the East India Trade Company was mad, and the english businessmen were mad. The ship they found in the Caribean may have been the ship.
When he was finally caught and put on trial in England the King didn’t want anything to do with it - so the documents showing the King’s blessing on the whole deal never got brought to trial. (And the trial was more of a kangaroo court than an actual trial). The documents of the era show the King’s letter, trial transcripts, etc. Pretty interesting.
That boy needs an orthodontist AND a plastic surgeon . . . or maybe an icthyologist.
Sounds like a good reason to start bulldozing the hills above the wreck site. Sniff-sniff... They couldn't have taken it too farrrrrr! ;-)
(It was actually ghostwritten by Mr. Daniel Defoe, of whom you have probably heard. And the cover pic is "The Fight for the Treasure" by Mr. Howard Pyle, the "pirate painter" among other nifty things he depicted.)
They hung around together, did they?
From Wiki:
Kidd killed one of his own crewmen on October 30, 1697. While Kidd's gunner, William Moore, was on deck sharpening a chisel, a Dutch ship hove in sight. Moore urged Kidd to attack the Dutchman, an act not only piratical but also certain to anger the Dutch-born King William. Kidd refused, calling Moore a lousy dog. Moore retorted, "If I am a lousy dog, you have made me so; you have brought me to ruin and many more." Kidd snatched up and heaved an ironbound bucket at Moore. Moore fell to the deck with a fractured skull and died the following day. (Cordingly 1995).No mention of a firearm.While seventeenth century English admiralty law allowed captains great leeway in using violence against their crew, outright murder was not permitted. But Kidd seemed unconcerned, later telling his surgeon that he had "good friends in England, that will bring me off for that."
Ping!
Right.
The way I remember it, several prominent English politicians put Kidd up to it, gave his “letter” and sent him on his way. Kidd was not a very good pirate. He didn’t do much plundering.
When he was put on trial, the politicians left him hung out to dry - LITERALLY!
I frankly, never heard the exact story of how Moore died. What I had heard was that Kidd recruited his crew along the Delaware, in New Jersey, with the promise of high pay from the looting. When Kidd was ordered to stop all pirating or privateering, the crew rebelled and an attempted mutiny was led by Moore.
There was an old ditty (folk song) that was song by Moore’s granddaughter to her grandchildren about Capatain Kidd, that was all anyone really knew about the story, except that Moore was her maternal grandfather.
The new ship, the Adventure Galley, was well suited to the task of catching pirates; weighing over 284 tons, it was equipped with 34 cannons, oars, and 150 men. The oars were a key advantage as they would enable the Adventure Galley to maneuver in a battle when the winds had calmed and other ships were dead in the water. Kidd took pride in personally selecting the crew, choosing only those he deemed to be the best and most loyal officers.As the Adventure Galley slid down the Thames, Kidd unaccountably failed to salute a Navy yacht at Greenwich as custom dictated. The Navy yacht then fired a shot to make him show respect, and Kidd’s crew... responded with an astounding display of impudence - but turning and slapping their backsides in [disdain]. (Botting 106)
Because of his crew's refusal to salute, the Adventure Galley was stopped by the HMS Duchess, whose captain was offended by Kidd's failure to fire the customary salute to his vessel, and retaliated by pressing much of Kidd's crew into naval service, despite rampant protests. Thus short-handed, Kidd sailed for New York City, capturing a French vessel en route (which was legal under the terms of his commission). To make up for the lack of officers, Kidd picked up replacement crew in New York, the vast majority of whom were known and hardened criminals, some undoubtedly former pirates.
Was William a hardened criminal?
Capt. Kidd lived in New York City in the 1600s on Pearl St. a block down from my 9th great grandparents
Some of my early ancestors have been variously described as, backwoodsmen, a rough sort, pioneers, that type of thing. One historian mentioned that he didn’t want to demean the quality of the settlers, but he wanted to mention that they were mostly uneducated and unchurched, and that swear words were not uncommon among there conversations. One was a backwoodsman, signed on to Sullivan’s expedition against the Iroquois during the Revolution.
There were also Puritans, those who studied at Harvard, ministers, school teachers, etc. They were the little people of America, fought in every war, worked on the Panama Canal, crossed the country by wagon train, settling in WA and Oregon in the 18th century.
The first ancestor came here in 1632, and they had huge families, often as many as fourteen children and they lived very long lives, (96 years seems to have been a common life span).
Always a fascination for almost everyone, these men. Yes, Kidd was a privateer. It was a masterpiece of being set up on his trial in England. A privateer being, as a Freeper has already informed us, the nudge, nudge, wink, wink of that era. To plunder ships of a less than friendly country. A safe return was guaranteed by the country issuing the letter of marque. The captain then had to share his spoils with the treasury.
In England the custom was in certain cases, after a man was hanged, to put the corpse in a gibbet. This was an iron cage, where his body rotted. Pirates hung there at Wapping Old Stairs, by the Thames River.
Jerry Abbershaw, highwayman was hanged (1799)and his gibbet was still there six years later. Jem Belcher beat Andrew Gamble for the bare knuckle championship, close by Abbershaw's gibbet. (1805)
Silly rabbit. This article is from Yahoo, written by "the Live Science Staff". You don't expect them to actually know something about their subject, or to do a little fact checking. Such things have fallen out of fashion. Privateer nows means whatever you want it to mean, according to your own reality.
Right you arrrrrrrrrr...
Why damn my eyes,Cap'n, You would even maroon a man on a spit of an island. With his sea chest, his musket and bible and all. He would have to live with the certainty of a slow death. Else be picked up by Spaniards and tortured.
Seriously though. The middle ages had the "iron maiden", I saw one at Madam Tussauds. It was a gibbet, but with spikes that closed in, when the live person was shoved inside. Makes Camp Gitmo look like a 18 century retirement home for their lud'ships.
I have the opportunity to amend my hasty post. It was on Wimbledon Common, that Jerry Abbershaw, highwayman was gibbeted 1795. The bareknuckle contest was in 1800.(Belcher vs Gamble). Hard by the gibbet.
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