The wreckage of a pirate ship abandoned by Captain Kidd in the 17th century has been found by divers just 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic in less than 10 feet of seawater.
The archaeology team, from Indiana University, says they have found the remains of Quedagh Merchant. Kidd captured the ship loaded with valuable satins, silks, gold, silver, Davy Jones' foot locker and other East Indian stuff like curry , but left the ship in the Caribbean as he sailed to New York to clear his name of criminal charges.
He didn't manage to clear his name as teams of celebrity lawyers hadn't been invented yet and was convicted of piracy and murder charges in a famous London trial. He was left to hang over the River Thames for two years. It is said he was the most well hung pirate on the seven seas and had the biggest booty .
Charles Beaker of Indiana University said "It is remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location and it looks like there hasn't been any looting, well until we got there."
The find is valuable because of what it can reveal about William Kidd and piracy in the Caribbean as many people today only know about pirates from Johnny Depp movies, but the question that needs to be answered the most is, why wasn't Kiera Knightly jolly well rogered when she was disguised as a man while hiding aboard the pirate ship as per the pirate custom with pretty young lads?
John Foster, California's state underwater archaeologist who is working on the site has pondered that question for years but feels he is close to an answer with this recent discovery.
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