Divers locate the Quedagh Merchant?

It was no more than 10 feet below the water’s surface that an IU underwater archaeology team discovered not a pirate’s treasure, but a pirate’s history.

Under a blanket of corrosion, the remains of the Quedagh Merchant rested in Caribbean waters, undisturbed for 400 years. The cannons of the massive ship lay strewn across the ocean floor as plants clung to the wreckage. It was every captain’s nightmare and every diver’s dream.

On Dec. 13, the IU archaeologists announced the discovery of a ship they believed to have been abandoned by notorious pirate Captain William Kidd. According to legend, Kidd was accused of stealing the ship, which was rumored to have held riches from East India. After allegations naming the captain as a pirate reached authorities, Kidd fled the Merchant and raced to clear his name. The ship was left in the care of Kidd’s crew.

When Kidd left the deck of the Merchant, it was the last time he or anyone else would see the ship intact. The men left behind reportedly looted the cargo hold and then burned the vessel, sending it to a fiery grave.

Fritz Hanselmann, a doctoral student in anthropology, was one of the first divers to the site, along with Charles Beeker, director of the IU Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs.

“The initial dive was fascinating due to the quantity of cannons and their placement,” Hanselmann said. “But once we had an idea that we were diving on the Quedagh Merchant and the artifacts we were examining could possibly have belonged to Captain Kidd, the historical context of the ship made further dives that much more breathtaking.”

The site was spotted by a native of the Dominican Republic, and officials contacted IU to investigate. IU has been working in the region for 11 years, but the untouched condition of the Merchant is a rarity.

“This wreck could possibly solve the mystery of what actually happened to the Quedagh Merchant, the ship that Captain Kidd abandoned,” Hanselmann said. “We hope that this shipwreck will yield information that will allow us to determine if the ship is actually the Quedagh Merchant, analyze its wrecking process to understand how it arrived at the area and obtain a greater understanding of the maritime cultural landscape and piracy during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.”

Anthropologist Geoffrey Conrad, director of IU’s Mathers Museum of World Cultures, looks for the wreckage to provide an accurate view of Captain Kidd’s life, which wasn’t one of a pirate, he said.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about Captain Kidd,” Conrad said. “People believe him to be the arch pirate, but he wasn’t really a pirate at all. Hopefully, the development of a park around the site of the Quedagh Merchant will make the facts more widely known.”

Through the study of samples taken from the ship, Conrad hopes to determine the origins of the materials used to make the ship, which will make the likelihood that the ship is in fact the Quedagh Merchant much higher. The wood should be from around the Indian Ocean in order to match the legend, Conrad said.

The majority of the wreckage will remain in the Caribbean as an underwater history museum, paying homage to the life of Captain Kidd and the time period.

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