Six shipwrecks linked to the real ‘Pirates of the Caribbean‘ have been found in Nassau’s harbor in the Bahamas for the first time, an international expedition announced.
The New Providence Pirates Expedition conducted the survey in late 2025 after receiving the first official permission to dive in the harbor’s restricted zone. Marine archaeologist Sean Kingsley and Michael Pateman, the Bahamas’ ambassador for history and culture, co-directed the project.
Three of the six wrecks are tied to the golden age of piracy, a period from the 1690s through the 1720s when Nassau served as a base for buccaneers, including Blackbeard, Henry Avery, Calico Jack Rackham, and Anne Bonny.
The standout find is a charred wooden hull fastened with wooden treenails, a method typical of 18th-century shipbuilding, burned down to the waterline. Pateman said that pirates burned seized ships after stripping them to remove evidence of their crimes.
Burned hull may belong to Avery’s missing pirate ship
Researchers believe the hull may be the Fancy, last commanded by Avery. In 1695, his crew seized gold, silver, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds from Mughal Empire vessels, a haul worth around $150 million today.
The ship was never found afterward. The wreck fits the Fancy’s estimated age, size, and construction, though no formal identification has been made.
Pirates of the Caribbean shipwrecks found in the Bahamas for the first time reveal Nassau as history's most notorious golden age pirate port. pic.twitter.com/9WrS1pxMI1
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) June 5, 2026
A second site about 20 miles east of Nassau yielded iron cannons, 25 lead musket balls, a grinding stone for sharpening swords, and a swivel gun. Kingsley described swivel guns as pivot-mounted weapons pirates used to open fire on enemy crews at close range.
A third site under Nassau’s old bridge produced hull planks, rigging, wine bottles, wooden crates, and galley bricks. Nearby, researchers recovered 143 clay tobacco pipes marked with a horse, unicorn, crown, and the English royal crest.
The style suggests they were made in London around the 1740s. Kingsley said the cargo reflects Nassau settling back into regular trade after the pirate era closed.
Bahamas shipwrecks reveal the real ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’
The discoveries came despite significant disturbance to the harbor floor from years of dredging. Kingsley said the finds are likely only a fraction of what may remain and estimated that dozens more wrecks could be hidden in the harbor. The team plans to return using underwater drones but has found no evidence of treasure.
Until now, no shipwrecks connected to Caribbean pirates had been found in the Bahamas, even though Nassau served as the pirates’ primary base throughout that period.
The findings are featured in a documentary series, Mystery of the Pirate King’s Treasure, now on Wreckwatch TV, and in the latest issue of Wreckwatch magazine.
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