Divers mark end of Queen Anne's Revenge expedition

A formal ceremony is marking the end of an eight-week expedition to recover artifacts from the ship believed to have belonged to Blackbeard. The ceremony is scheduled for today in Beaufort.

Researchers led by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources’ Underwater Archaeology Branch recover a 2,000-pound cannon from the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard's ship, which has been on the ocean floor off the North Carolina coast for nearly 300 years. [Credit: Chuck Beckle/Associated Press]

The event highlights the conclusion of the expedition by archaeologists to recover artifacts from Queen Anne's Revenge. Since 1997, several of the cannons and more than 250,000 artifacts have been retrieved including gold, platters, glass, beads, rope, the anchor and several ballast stones.

A 3,000 pound anchor from what is believed to be the wreck of the pirate Blackbeards flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, is recovered from the ocean where it has been since 1718 [Credit: Chuck Beckle/Associated Press]

In 1717, Blackbeard captured a French slave ship and renamed it Queen Anne's Revenge. Blackbeard settled in Bath and received a governor's pardon. Volunteers with the Royal Navy killed him in Ocracoke Inlet in November 1718, five months after the ship thought to be Queen Anne's Revenge sank.

Source: The Associated Press [October 19, 2012]