Blackbeard's French Prize!

September 12, 1718: Blackbeard returns to North Carolina with the Rose Emelye, a French ship known as the "Sugar Ship" for it's cargo of sugar and cocoa, captured in Martinique. Thache claims to have found the ship abandoned at sea and claims the ship as salvage. At a hearing, Tobias Knight, North Carolina's chief justice and His Majesty's collector of customs, declares the vessel derelict, thus clearing Thache. After receiving sixty hogsheads of sugar governor Eden of North Carolina also agrees. Cargo taken from the "Sugar Ship" is then stored at a Bath Town warehouse rented by Knight. Blackbeard and his crew spend much of September removing the cargo from the Rose Emelye for storage. Soon after, Thache claims the ship is leaking and is in danger of sinking and blocking the channel. He then took the vessel upriver and burned her to the waterline where she lies lost to this day. The people of Bath soon decide that the pirate has worn out his welcome and appeal to Alexander Spotswood, Virginia's royal governor, for help in dispatching Blackbeard. READ MORE

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