Wreck Hunters Uncover 'Heavily Armed' 17th-Century Pirate Ship

Shipwreck hunters investigating a patch of the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Morocco have uncovered a “heavily armed pirate vessel” from the 17th century which experts call “a precious echo of one of the western Mediterranean's great maritime horrors ."

Experts believe that the ship, identified as a Barbary corsair (or pirate ship) from the 17th century, was most likely headed to the Spanish coast to capture and enslave locals, Live Science reported. To disguise their insidious venture, the ship was packed with Algerian pots and pans to disguise itself as a trading vessel.

Its discovery marks “the first Algiers corsair found in the Barbary heartland,” according to Sean Kingsley, a researcher on the project and editor-in-chief of Wreckwatch Magazine , which covers underwater exploration.

Researchers determined that the 45-foot-long ship was a tartane, a small boat favored by pirates on the Barbary Coast because it could be easily disguised as a fishing vessel. "I've seen tartanes described as 'low-level pirate ships,'” Kingsley said. “The wreck neatly fits the profile of a Barbary corsair in location and character. The seas around the Straits of Gibraltar were the pirates' favorite hunting grounds, where a third of all corsair prizes were taken.”

Amongst the wreckage, scientists found a treasure trove of stolen goods and weapons. The ship’s arsenal included four large cannons, 10 swivel guns, and numerous muskets for the 20-man crew. Also found were a rare “spyglass,” which experts believe was pilfered from a European ship; and remnants of pottery, such as bowls and vases, which helped identify the vessel as an Algerian corsair.

The vessel was first discovered during a separate expedition in 2005 by the Florida-based company Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME). Scientists then investigated the wreck with the help of a remotely operated vehicle called Zeus, a “sophisticated robot equipped with archaeological tools .”

"Throw into the sunken mix a collection of glass liquor bottles made in Belgium or Germany, and tea bowls made in Ottoman Turkey, and the wreck looks highly suspicious,” Greg Stemm, OME’s founder and the expedition’s leader, explained. “This was no normal North African coastal trader.”

"Two defining characteristics of pirate ships are heavy weapons and cosmopolitan cultural contents—assembled from the many prizes taken," Kingsley explained. He noted that the ship's arsenal could be quickly installed for attacking crews in the rigging and on decks" if the captain were to encounter trouble.

Kingsley continued: "The bulk of the pottery is linked to kilns dug up in Martyrs' Square in Algiers, which strongly points to the home port. The fact that the collection includes unusual glass liquor bottles made in Belgium or Germany, tea bowls from Ottoman Turkey, and a European spyglass [means] the wreck looks unlike any known regular Mediterranean trader."

Lawless pirates ruled the Barbary Coast, which spans modern-day Morocco to Libya, for 200 years. They attacked upon ships and carried out raids on unsuspecting towns along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, kidnapping people who they later ransomed or sold into the North African slave market.

"The threat of Algiers' corsairs was an everyday terror for the West. The shipwreck found in deep waters is a precious echo of one of the western Mediterranean's great maritime horrors ," Stemm told Newsweek .

The reign of terror wrought by the pirates came to an end in the 19th century, after they were defeated in the Barbary Wars by a joint coalition of the United States, Sweden, and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily.

Experts are unsure for how long the recently discovered ship was in use, and when exactly it was constructed, but Kingsley believes it sank around 1760. "The Ottoman bowls on the wreck stopped being made in Turkey around 1755. The tightest dating comes from the glass bottles that were blown, at latest, 1740-1760. So the ship can't postdate 1760," he explained.