Famous Pirates – Blackbeard

The days until Skullduggery Island becomes available to everyone are quickly ticking down. To help celebrate, I’ve been posting a little bit about famous real pirates in history. Today, we’ll look at one of the most fearsome pirates of all, the notorious Captain Blackbeard.

Born Edward Teach, Blackbeard originally came from Bristol, England. He was a successful and well-known pirate who operated throughout the West Indes and Americas in the early 1700s. He was only active as a pirate for just three years, but in that time he terrorized the waters of the Caribbean and became much-feared.

His first and most famous ship was named the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and this was a name he gave the ship after capturing it from a French crew. He equipped it with 40 guns, making it a dangerous and formidable ship. I bet he could have even taken on Captain Crawfish’s warship in Skullduggery Island. As it is, Blackbeard defeated many large merchant ships and racked up a lot of plunder in just a few short months while active on the high seas.

Blackbeard was of course well known for his ragged and scary appearance, most notably his long black beard. It is said that many sailors who saw him became so afraid that they refused to fight, making things very easy for Blackbeard and his pirate crew.

Blackbeard was finally killed in a huge battle in 1718 while commanding a new ship named the Adventure. While boarding a ship captained by the pirate hunter Lt. Maynard, Blackbeard and his men were surprised by several sailors who had hidden below decks. In the ensuing battle, Blackbeard was shot several times. His head was cut off and hung from the sails of the ship to serve as a warning to other pirates.