Blackbeard's ship, Queen Anne's Revenge, now being explored by marine archeologists off the coast of North Carolina, is giving up more than just its treasures, it's also revealing the infamous pirate's terrifying tactics. And what researchers are finding are an ingenious array of improvised weapons, designed to injure and incapacitate as many people as possible, while leaving ships and their valuable cargo intact, reports the Telegraph. The wreckage has yielded cannon that fired canvas bags filled with glass, nails, and spikes, or batches of nine-inch bolts—devastating to humans, but not so much to ships.
"These weapons would terrorize the enemy," said the expedition's leader. “This vessel is heavily armed but the crew are not using that many cannonballs. Mostly, they seem to have used these improvised missiles that can be used to take out the crew or disarm the other ship’s sails." But more than just maiming people, Blackbeard's goal appears to have been to win without fighting at all. "Their aim was to capture a ship by intimidation and leave it in pristine condition," said one expert. "They didn’t want to damage the ship or its cargo." Click to see what else has been raised from the wreckage. (More Blackbeard stories.)
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