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First wreck of Barbary pirate corsair found
The first Barbary pirate corsair shipwreck has been found half a mile deep in the Straits of Gibraltar. About 46 feet long, it was a small boat but heavily armed with two iron cannon at each end, muskets and ten iron swivel guns in the hold; it’s the armaments that make its purpose as a pirate ship clear. Its cargo of pottery identified Algiers as its likely departure port.
The pirates of the Barbary Coast, ie, the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, began preying on ships in the 15th century and were the scourge of the Western Mediterranean for 400 years. They were state-supported, a rich source of income for Barbary States which included Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. They made enormous amounts, not so much from treasure, but by ransoming captives taken from European ships and from their participation in the transatlantic slave trade. Britain and France paid them tribute to keep the pirates from hassling their navies or expatriates. Spain was a constant target. The nascent United States was so troubled by the pirates they went to war with them twice in 1801 and 1815.
The shipwreck sailed out of Algiers, which was the most wretched hive of scum and piracy in the Barbary States, around 1760. It was likely headed to Gibraltar and Majorca carrying 31 different types of pottery — bowls, jars, jugs, cooking pots, basins, oil lamps, cups — made in Algiers. It also had apothecary jars, believed to be French or Italian, Ottoman jars, pipes and tobacco. Objects were found clustered around the mast in the captain’s cabin, likely on their way to being divvied up with the crew. The captain also had a glass vessel of wine or liquor from Belgium, Germany or Holland stashed in his locker with four imitation Chinese porcelain cups made in western Turkey.
This size ship, known as a tartane, featured triangular sails affixed to two masts. They also had a bank of oars. They weren’t the intimidating pirate ships used to board merchant and navy vessels. They were easily confused for fishing boats and were able to sneak up on their victims.
“The wreck neatly fits the profile of a Barbary corsair in location and character,” [Wreckwatch magazine editor-in-chief Sean] Kingsley said. “The seas around the Straits of Gibraltar were the pirates’ favorite hunting grounds, where a third of all corsair prizes were taken.”
Stemm added that the wrecked ship was also equipped with a very rare “spyglass” — an early type of telescope that was revolutionary at the time and had probably been captured from a European ship.
Other artifacts of the wreck support the notion this was a pirate ship laden with stolen goods.
“Throw into the sunken mix a collection of glass liquor bottles made in Belgium or Germany, and tea bowls made in Ottoman Turkey, and the wreck looks highly suspicious,” he said. “This was no normal North African coastal trader.”
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