The Archives

The ArchivesShipsAdventure (Blackbeard's sloop)

Adventure (Blackbeard's sloop)

The single-masted sloop Edward Thache was aboard when he was killed at Ocracoke Inlet on 22 November 1718, mounting eight guns, taken that day by two hired sloops manned from HMS Pearl and HMS Lyme and carried off as a prize.

LaunchedApril 1718Totaken 22 November 1718 (O.S.), Ocracoke InletAlso writtenthe sloop Adventure (Virginia Court of Admiralty depositions; Tobias Knight's letter of 17 November 1718)

She was the sloop Adventure, single-masted, and a separate vessel from the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship-rigged flagship of about forty guns that Thache lost at Topsail Inlet earlier the same year. The men who deposed before the Virginia Court of Admiralty, against Thache's crew and against Tobias Knight, called her by that name, and Knight himself directed a letter of 17 November 1718 to Capt Edward Thache on board his sloop Adventure. Kidd's Adventure Galley is another ship altogether.1,2

Two sloops, one name

Two vessels called Adventure run through Blackbeard's last year: David Herriot's, an eighty-ton logwood sloop taken off Turneff in April 1718 and lost at Topsail Inlet in June, and the sloop he was standing on at Ocracoke in November. They may be one hull, got off the bar and kept, or two vessels sharing a common name.3

David Herriot swore to his own sloop in some detail. She was of the burden of eighty tons or thereabouts, owned by Matthew Taylor of Devon, John Devine of Leyden and James Robberts of Bristol, and chartered for the Honduras logwood trade. On or about 4 to 5 April 1718, ten leagues short of the Bay, Thatch took her at Turneff with the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Revenge in company and put a prize crew aboard. Johnson's printed narrative gives the command of that prize crew to Israel Hands, master of Teach's ship; Herriot, on oath, named nobody, and said only that five of the pirates' hands were sent to bring the sloop to anchor under the ship's stern.4,5,6

In the first days of June 1718 the Queen Anne's Revenge and one of the sloops in company ran aground at Topsail Inlet and were lost. Herriot deposed that it was generally believed Thatch had run her ashore on purpose, to break the companies and keep the money for himself. The company broke up. Thatch kept one sloop.7

Her guns, and her master

Eight guns. Spotswood wrote to the Board of Trade on 22 December 1718 that Teach was "on board a sloop wch. carryed 8 guns and very well fitted for fight". The Boston News-Letter made it ten, and a modern count reads nine mounted.8

Her master was Hezekiah Hands, the Israel Hands of the printed narrative, one man under two forenames. He was not at Ocracoke. He was ashore at Bath when the sloops came in, was taken there afterwards, tried, and pardoned.9

About 22 August 1718 she took two French ships near Bermuda. Thatch plundered one, put both crews aboard her, and brought the other into North Carolina, giving out afterwards that the sugar and cocoa had been found floating as a wreck. Knight's letter of 17 November came aboard her and was found afterwards among the dead man's things. Knight was secretary to Governor Charles Eden and had taken part of the French cargo.10,11

22 November 1718

She is the vessel they took at Ocracoke. Two hired sloops, manned from HMS Pearl and HMS Lyme under Lieutenant Robert Maynard with Captain Ellis Brand in overall command, came up with her in the inlet on 22 November 1718, Old Style. The resistance was obstinate. Blackbeard and nine of his men were killed. Nine were taken alive, three white men and six Black men, all of them much wounded, and the sloop was carried off as a prize.12

The losses among the King's men are counted three ways. Spotswood's letter to Lord Cartwright gives twelve killed and twenty-two wounded. His despatch to the Board of Trade, written a month after the action, counts ten killed and four and twenty wounded, one of them dead of his wounds since. The Boston News-Letter is lower again, and reads as a tally for one sloop. What did the damage was the Adventure's broadside of small shot, swan shot, spick nails and pieces of old iron.13

One of the two hired sloops was the Ranger. The Jane that later accounts give as Maynard's own belongs to no paper of the time.14

She was sailed away as a prize with Blackbeard's head hung at the bowsprit end, first to Bath Town for relief, then back to the men of war in the James River. Then she was sold, and the pirate effects and the sale of the sloop came together to about 2500 pounds, divided among the companies of the Lyme and the Pearl.15,16

The General History, for all it tells about the fight, never calls the Ocracoke sloop the Adventure and never counts her guns. The name and the eight guns are Virginia's.17

The excavated site at Beaufort Inlet, the Topsail of 1718, is identified as the Queen Anne's Revenge, a different and much larger vessel, and nothing on the seabed has been tied to the Adventure.18

What the record will not give is her identity. No paper read here says whether the sloop at Ocracoke was Herriot's hull got off the bar or another vessel that took the name, and it stays open until Brand's and Maynard's reports in the Admiralty captains' letters are read against the Virginia depositions. Her tonnage, her build, her rig beyond the single mast and the number of hands aboard that morning are all absent. The gun count stands at eight because Spotswood said so, not because anyone counted them on her deck. The name of the second hired sloop and the 2500 pounds want the same treatment.

What the evidence does not settle

Identity of the sloop

  • The Ocracoke sloop may be Herriot's captured logwood sloop or another vessel

Second hired sloop

  • The name of the second hired sloop at Ocracoke is unrecordedVery likely

Sale proceeds

  • The 2500 pounds said raised by her sale is not documentedVery likely

Each line is one question with its own grade, taken from the register where a claim carries it. Nothing here is graded as a whole.

Sources for this record

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

  1. The vessel Blackbeard was aboard when he was killed was a sloop named the Adventure, so named in the depositions before the Virginia Court of Admiralty and in Tobias Knight's letter of 17 November 1718, which is directed to Capt Edward Thache on board his sloop Adventure. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Colonial court records: Depositions and evidences before the Virginia Court of Admiralty against the crew of Edward Thache and against Tobias Knight (incl. Knight's letter of 17 November 1718), pp. 341-345
  2. The Adventure was a single-masted sloop and a different vessel from the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's earlier ship-rigged flagship of about forty guns, which was lost at Topsail Inlet. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Deposition and colonial official letter: The Information of David Herriot and Ignatius Pell (in The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet and other Pirates, 1719); Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to Lord Cartwright (a Lord Proprietor of Carolina), pp. 324-327
  3. Two distinct vessels named Adventure run through Blackbeard's story, David Herriot's eighty-ton logwood sloop taken at Turneff in April 1718 and wrecked at Topsail Inlet, and the sloop on which Blackbeard was killed at Ocracoke, and whether the Ocracoke sloop was the same hull or a differently acquired vessel of the same name is not established. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Deposition and colonial official letter: The Information of David Herriot and Ignatius Pell (in The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet and other Pirates, 1719); Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to Lord Cartwright (a Lord Proprietor of Carolina), pp. 324-327
  4. The eighty-ton sloop Adventure was taken from David Herriot at Turneff, about ten leagues short of the Bay of Honduras, on or about 4 to 5 April 1718 by Thatch in the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Revenge, and a pirate prize crew was put aboard to man her. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Deposition and period narrative: The Information of David Herriot and Ignatius Pell (in The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet and other Pirates, 1719); A General History of the Pyrates (chapter on Edward Teach called Black-beard)
  5. Herriot's Adventure was of the burden of eighty tons or thereabouts, owned by Matthew Taylor of Devon, John Devine of Leyden and James Robberts of Bristol, and chartered for the Bay of Honduras logwood trade. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Deposition: The Information of David Herriot and Ignatius Pell (in The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet and other Pirates, 1719)
  6. The naming of Israel Hands as the prize master put aboard the Adventure at Turneff rests on Johnson alone, Herriot's sworn information naming no prize master and saying only that five of the pirates' hands were sent to bring the sloop to anchor under the ship's stern. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (chapter on Edward Teach called Black-beard)
  7. The Queen Anne's Revenge and one of the sloops in company were run aground and wrecked at Topsail Inlet about the beginning of June 1718, after which Blackbeard's company dispersed and he kept one sloop; Herriot deposed that it was generally believed Thatch had grounded his vessel on purpose to break up the companies and secure the money for himself. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Colonial official letter and deposition: Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to Lord Cartwright (a Lord Proprietor of Carolina), pp. 324-327; The Information of David Herriot and Ignatius Pell (in The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet and other Pirates, 1719)
  8. At Ocracoke the Adventure carried eight guns on Spotswood's account, while the Boston News-Letter reports ten guns and a modern account reads nine mounted guns. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Colonial official letter: Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to Lord Cartwright (a Lord Proprietor of Carolina), pp. 324-327; Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, CSP Colonial vol. 30, no. 800, 22 December 1718, which has Teach 'on board a sloop wch. carryed 8 guns and very well fitted for fight'
  9. The master of the Adventure was Hezekiah Hands, the Israel Hands of the printed narrative and the same man under two forenames; he was not present at the Ocracoke fight, was taken later ashore at Bath, tried, and pardoned. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Colonial court records and period narrative: Depositions and evidences before the Virginia Court of Admiralty against the crew of Edward Thache and against Tobias Knight (incl. Knight's letter of 17 November 1718), pp. 341-345; A General History of the Pyrates (chapter on Edward Teach called Black-beard)
  10. The Adventure took two French ships near Bermuda about 22 August 1718; Thatch plundered one and brought the other into North Carolina, having put both crews aboard the first, and afterwards gave out that the goods had been found as a wreck. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Colonial official letters and court records: Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Lords Commissioners of Trade, pp. 337-341; Depositions and evidences before the Virginia Court of Admiralty against the crew of Edward Thache and against Tobias Knight, pp. 341-345; Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, CSP Colonial vol. 30, no. 800, 22 December 1718
  11. A letter in Tobias Knight's hand dated 17 November 1718 was found among Thache's papers aboard the Adventure after his death, Knight being secretary to Governor Charles Eden and a receiver of part of the French cargo. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Colonial court records and official letter: Depositions and evidences before the Virginia Court of Admiralty against the crew of Edward Thache and against Tobias Knight (incl. Knight's letter of 17 November 1718), pp. 341-345; Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Lords Commissioners of Trade, pp. 337-341
  12. On 22 November 1718, Old Style, two hired sloops carrying fifty-five men from HMS Pearl and HMS Lyme, under Lieutenant Robert Maynard and with Captain Ellis Brand in overall command, came up with the Adventure at Ocracoke Inlet, and after an obstinate resistance Blackbeard and nine of his men were killed, nine were taken alive, three white men and six Black men, all much wounded, and the sloop was taken. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Colonial official letter: Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to Lord Cartwright (a Lord Proprietor of Carolina), pp. 324-327; Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, CSP Colonial vol. 30, no. 800, 22 December 1718
  13. The counts of the King's losses at Ocracoke do not agree: Spotswood's letter to Lord Cartwright gives twelve killed and twenty-two wounded, his despatch to the Council of Trade and Plantations of 22 December 1718 counts ten killed in the action and four and twenty wounded of whom one had since died, and the Boston News-Letter gives a lower tally that reads as one sloop's; the decisive stroke was the Adventure's broadside of small shot, swan shot, spick nails and pieces of old iron. Disputed The sources disagree, and we say how. Colonial official letters and newspaper: Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to Lord Cartwright (a Lord Proprietor of Carolina), pp. 324-327; Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, CSP Colonial vol. 30, no. 800, 22 December 1718; Boston News-Letter account of the death of Blackbeard (dateline Rhode-Island), issue of about early March 1719
  14. Johnson names the Ranger as the second of Maynard's two hired sloops, and the name Jane for the other comes from the later accounts rather than from any paper of the time read here. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative and modern account: A General History of the Pyrates (chapter on Edward Teach called Black-beard); Blackbeard's Final Battle: Sorting Facts, Fiction
  15. After the fight the Adventure was taken as a prize with Blackbeard's head hung at the bowsprit end, and Maynard sailed to Bath Town for relief and then back to the men of war in the James River in Virginia. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and newspaper: A General History of the Pyrates (chapter on Edward Teach called Black-beard); Boston News-Letter account of the death of Blackbeard (dateline Rhode-Island), issue of about early March 1719
  16. The captured sloop was sold, and the pirate effects together with the sale of the sloop came to about 2500 pounds divided among the companies of HMS Lyme and HMS Pearl, a total that rests on Johnson alone. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (chapter on Edward Teach called Black-beard)
  17. Johnson's General History does not name the Ocracoke sloop the Adventure and gives no figure for her guns; both the name and the eight-gun figure come from the colonial records. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative and colonial records: A General History of the Pyrates (chapter on Edward Teach called Black-beard); Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to Lord Cartwright (a Lord Proprietor of Carolina), pp. 324-327; Depositions and evidences before the Virginia Court of Admiralty against the crew of Edward Thache and against Tobias Knight, pp. 341-345
  18. The excavated shipwreck at Beaufort, formerly Topsail, Inlet is identified as the Queen Anne's Revenge, and there are no confirmed physical remains of the Ocracoke sloop Adventure. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Colonial official letter: Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to Lord Cartwright (a Lord Proprietor of Carolina), pp. 324-327