Blackbeard’s shipwreck conservation lab to offer tours

Before the 200-ton Queen Anne’s Revenge became Blackbeard the pirate’s flagship, the previously named La Concorde was a French slave-trading vessel.

Archaeological conservators and researchers with the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology will explain the history of the ship during 90-minute tours on Saturday, Nov. 2, of the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab in Greenville.

The lab works to conserve, document, and investigate the artifacts recovered from the shipwreck identified as the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge.

The tours being offered at no charge are to begin every 30 minutes between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and will feature artifacts including gold grains, grenades and cannons recovered from the ship, which was wrecked near Beaufort Inlet over 300 years ago.

The La Concorde belonged to a wealthy French merchant, trafficking human cargo across the Atlantic in the 1710s. Late in the fall of 1717, off the island of Martinique, Blackbeard and his fellow pirates captured the La Concorde and renamed it the Queen Anne’s Revenge. In 1718, the ship ran aground near Beaufort inlet. The shipwreck was discovered in 1996, according to the QAR Lab website.

Organizers ask that participants arrive 10 minutes before tour time. Space is limited and registration is required. Visit the QAR Lab website to reserve a spot. The lab is at 1157 VOA Site C road in Greenville or call 744-6721.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project and Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab, and the Office of State Archaeology are within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.