Whose Shipwreck?
“People often ask if we found treasure. We've always considered the ship the treasure.” —Charles Beeker, underwater archaeologist
Help Professor Beeker!
Dive in and explore the recreation of a shipwreck found in just 10 feet of water off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Could it be the long lost shipwreck of Captain William Kidd, a notorious pirate? Work with your family to figure out what ship is this? Who sailed it? What happened to it?
- Follow the Path of the Ship. Explore old maps to see where the ship was last seen and where the ocean currents might have taken it.
- Explore the Cannon Pile. Look for clues in this recreation of the cannon pile. Do they match what is known about Kidd's ship?
- Help Excavate an Underwater Site. Use a dredge, a kind of underwater vacuum that archaeologists use to suck up the sand and reveal precious artifacts buried in the ocean.
Pirate or Privateer?
By January 1698 the expedition of Captain William Kidd was a troubled one. After nearly 18 months his privateering venture, backed by high-ranking English noblemen and authorized by the king of England, had found little success. On the hunt since 1696, Kidd had journeyed from New York to Madagascar to the Indian Ocean, but found few pirate ships to attack or enemy French trade ships to capture. And his heavily armed ship, Adventure Galley, had begun to leak.
Then, on January 16, the Cara Merchant sailed into view. It was a 400-ton merchant ship flying French flags. If Kidd thought his luck was about to improve, he was wrong. Up to this moment, he had been operating legally in the eyes of the English, attempting to capture French ships and attack pirate vessels. Any bounty taken was to be divided among Kidd, his crew, and his backers. But in taking the Cara Merchant, which he did with no trouble, the tables turned on Kidd. He was branded as one of the most notorious pirates of all time, and he was helpless to prove his innocence.
Read More
Who Is Charlie Beeker?
Charles Beeker, underwater archaeologist and director of Indiana University's Office of Underwater Science, leads the nation's first underwater resource management certificate program.
Beeker and his students have conducted underwater research projects on submerged ships and cargo throughout the United States and the Caribbean for more than 20 years. Beeker has been on thousands of shipwreck dives; his explorations have included searches in the Dominican Republic's Isabela Bay for the lost fleet of Columbus and, beginning in 2007, the shipwreck of the Cara Merchant, Captain Kidd's lost ship.
Click on an image to see it larger
On the hunt since 1696, Kidd had journeyed from New York to Madagascar to the Indian Ocean, but found few pirate ships to attack or enemy French trade ships to capture.
On January 16, 1698, the Cara Merchant sailed into view. It was a 400-ton merchant ship flying French flags.
Kidd was operating legally in the eyes of the English as he was attempting to capture French ships and attack pirate vessels. In doing so, he was branded as one of the most notorious pirates of all time, and he was helpless to prove his innocence.
The Cara Merchant flew French flags and operated with French passes, but these signs were misleading.
The ship was laden with gold, jewels, muslins, satins, and silks and it carried sugar, Saltpeter, and scrap iron.
Cannons like this one were left behind as Kidd headed toward New England desperate to clear his name. He was seized and sent on to London to stand trial.
Found guilty of pirating items similar to this, Kidd was hanged in May 1701.
Kidd left the Cara Merchant at Catalina Island and was said to have set it on fire and let it float out to sea. For 300 years, the Cara Merchant was lost. Until now.
In 2007, while on a research mission related to Columbus's ships, IU's Charles Beeker and his team were asked by the Dominican Republic's National Office of Underwater Cultural Heritage to examine a site discovered off the southern coast by a local resident.
What they saw stunned them. In less than 10 feet of water they found a coral-encrusted pile of 26 cannons, with broken anchors underneath and a few stray cannons close by.
The Dominican Government licensed the IU team to study the site and preserve it as an underwater park for the public.
To confirm the identity of the shipwreck, Beeker's team had to match physical evidence with the historical record.
The stacked formation of the cannons matches Kidd's description of the cannons he stored on the Cara Merchant.
On a later dive, a cannon was removed for conservation, exposing the wooden hull of the ship.
After this lab analysis, the ship was bound to be built of teak wood. This kind of ship did not sail in the Americas during Kidd's time. The Captain Kidd site is the only pirate ship ever found in the Caribbean.
