All language subtitles for Drain.the.Oceans.S03E05.Pirate.Ships.of.the.Caribbean.720p.WEBRip.x264-CAFFEiNE[eztv.io]_track3_[eng]

Naat: Opal
autiful and deadly.

The caribbean, for centuries
home to adventurers,
heroes and villains.

Dr delgado: The caribbean
has hundreds of islands
and deadly reefs and yet,

What made it all the
more frightening was that
it was a lawless place.

Narrator: Above all
other seas, the caribbean
is famous for pirates.

Dr beeker: Pirates
of the caribbean.

How can you not be
excited about pirates
and pirate ships?

Everyone's intrigued by
this golden age of piracy.

Narrator: For years
archaeologists have
searched in vain

For pirate ships.

Now the discovery of rare
evidence is unearthing

The true story behind
the most famous

Pirate names of all time
blackbeard, captain kidd
and henry morgan

Allowing us to drain this
ultimate pirate sea

And uncover buried
archaeological treasure.

Narrator: This is the
caribbean coast of panama,

On the estuary of
the chagres river.

In 1671, british born
buccaneer, captain
henry morgan,

Arrives here with a giant
fleet of 36 ships,

Packed with nearly
2,000 pirates.

Morgan has spent years
raiding the coast of
the spanish main,

Spain's colonies
in the americas.

But the chagres estuary
is the mother lode
because all of the riches

Of the spanish empire
passed through here.

Prof grove: Spain is
depending on bullion supplies

To keep its economy going and
it's there to be stolen.

Narrator: Here in these
crocodile infested waters,

Henry morgan pulls off
the greatest pirate
raid of all time.

Documents prove the
attack took place,
but for centuries

No hard evidence has ever
been found on the sea floor.

Now, almost 350 years later,
could this newly discovered

Shipwreck be the crucial
breakthrough?

Archaeologist, frederick
fritz hanselmann is on a
mission.

For the past ten
years, he's been
scanning the seabed

And reef here for evidence
of morgan's raid.

Dr hanselmann: For an
archaeologist, panama's a
phenomenal place to work.

It all happened here
and especially piracy.

Narrator: He's teamed up
with maritime archaeologist,
james delgado,

Who's studied caribbean
piracy for decades.

Dr delgado: Pirates loved
the caribbean because there
were so many places to hide.

You could tuck into a tiny
little key or an island

Or you could come to
the coast of, say,

Central america and
hide out there.

It was the perfect
place for pirates.

Narrator: It's this
secrecy that makes
finding hard evidence

Of pirates extremely
difficult.

Outlaws prefer to leave no
clues, but fritz and jim
have found one lead:

A letter by henry morgan
himself, describing how his
men attack and overrun

The fort overlooking
the chagres river, the
castile san lorenzo.

Morgan's letter also recounts
that after the battle, he
had to abandon five vessels,

Including his flagship,
the satisfaction.

Male: I had the ill fortune
to cast away the ship
I was in and four more.

Narrator: No one has ever
found the satisfaction,

But fritz and jim are
determined to try.

These are treacherous
waters, full of
swirling tides,

Shifting sands and the
deadly lajas reef

And mud washed down out of the
jungle buries any clues that
may remain on the sea bed.

But despite the challenges,
fritz has conducted a
series of surveys

Using specialized scanning
equipment and identified
some promising targets.

Could one of them be
part of henry morgan's
pirate armada?

There's only one
way to find out.

The water empties from the
river mouth, taking with it
centuries of silt and mud,

Revealing something
astonishing.

There on the reef,
preserved by the mud,
the hull of a ship.

Over 50 ft long and 22 ft
wide, the size and shape

Typical of a 17th
century galleon,

Fitting the period
of henry morgan's raid.

And there's more.

All down the centre,
rows of boxes.

Could they be chests
full of treasure?

Despite the risk of
crocodiles, fritz decides
to take a closer look.

Dr hanselmann: We're gonna
splash on this site,

Take a look at the
shipwreck and see what
we've got on our hands.

Narrator: He locates
the boxes and some have
objects still inside.

Dr hanselmann: When you look
at it and you say, "you know
what, the cargo hold is full,

Has all these wooden chests,
has all these crates."

Narrator: In the lab, fritz
makes another discovery.

Dr hanselmann: These are
cargo seals and these
would have been used

To mark bales of silk.

Narrator: Silks are precious
cargo, a good prize for any
pirate, as are these,

Heavily encrusted
sword blades.

Were they once wielded
by a fearsome buccaneer?

Dr hanselmann: And if
you look closely,

You can see part of the
blade is exposed.

Narrator: Then, in a rusted
mass, fritz identifies the
remains of other,

More everyday items.

Shoes for the mules bringing
the gold and silver to be
shipped back to Spain.

Not something a pirate
would risk his life for.

Dr hanselmann: A vessel
loaded with swords, wooden
chests, wooden barrels,

Is basically going
to be a supply ship.

Narrator: It's likely not a
pirate ship, so fritz digs
into spanish records

And finds a name the
encarnación.

A merchant vessel packed
with goods to restock
Spain's colony in panama,

Including crates
full of mule shoes.

Fritz has not unearthed
evidence of henry
morgan's famous raid,

But he has shown exactly
why this region attracted
pirates like him.

The chagres river forms part
of the shortest crossing point

From the atlantic to
the pacific oceans,

Making it the hub of all
spanish imperial trade routes,
funnelling out the gold,

Silver and other
treasures mined or looted
by the spanish empire.

Dr delgado: We are at
the mouth of the chagres
river which was,

To all intents and purposes,
the original panama canal.

While it doesn't completely
cut across the isthmus,

It goes enough of the way
so that you can bring
their treasure down,

Put it on a boat and take
it out to ships waiting

Right here at the
moth of the river .

Narrator: All of this
explains why henry morgan came
here with his pirate fleet.

But his ships are
still missing.

Fritz continues his survey

And, on a different
part of the reef,

Picks up a new target.

Could these mysterious
pieces of wreckage
finally lead him

To one of morgan's long
lost pirate ships?

For henry morgan's raid.

No pieces of eight, no
secret map marked with an x.

Just a letter, written by
morgan himself, stating
that he lost five ships.

Now, fritz hanselmann's
latest underwater scanning has
given us the data we need

To part the pirate seas.

The seaward side of lajas
reef is now exposed and on
it lie remarkable relics.

Scattered on the bottom are
eight cannon and all of them
look to be different sizes.

Could these be the actual
weapons used by morgan and
his band of buccaneers?

Dr hanselmann: So, this
is british, that's british,
that is potentially french.

Dr delgado: Now that we're
in the lab and we're seeing
everything cleaned off,

The sense that's emerging
is a group of guns from the
same time and a mix of guns,

Not only in terms of size
but in terms of nationality.

Dr hanselmann: If it's
a naval ship or it's a
naval ordnance,

They're gonna be more
standardized, they're gonna
be more similar in size,

Whereas a pirate is gonna
make use of anything

That they can get
their hands on.

Narrator: The mismatched
weapons fit the profile
of a pirate

And their sizes do to.

Small cannon like these
aren't big enough to
sink a ship,

But that's exactly why
pirates like them.

Dr hanselmann: They wanna
disable it so that they're
able to take the goods,

Take the treasure.

Some literature describes
these guns as murderers
because they're smaller,

They're used for
antipersonnel, they're
used more like a shotgun

To take out multiple
people above decks,

To clear off the deck so
that they can capture the
ship rather than sink it.

We're looking at a
17th century version of grand
theft auto, just using ships.

Narrator: It's a
promising clue.

Next, fritz and jim make
out a faint mark on one
of the cannon.

A mark that hints at
something very exciting.

Dr hanselmann: This
particular gun has markings
of a foundry in England,

So this is a british
falconet that was made in
the mid to late 17th century.

Narrator: The date
fits perfectly with
henry morgan's raid.

Dr delgado: This gun
was loaded, still
had the ball in it,

Which means they sailed in
with this thing ready to go.

You're not expecting to
find an english gun on a
spanish reef in the 1600s

Unless they've come there
to have some mischief.

The best fit we have
for these is that these
are from morgan's ships.

Narrator: At last, a
genuine pirate relic,

Almost certainly left
behind by captain henry
morgan himself.

But if morgan's cannon
are here, what happened
to his ships?

The way the weapons are
scattered across lajas reef
may offer another clue.

Fritz returns to
morgan's letter.

Male: I gave orders
for the fleet to follow
me into the harbour.

Narrator: A tropical storm is
building, so morgan seeks the
safety of a sheltered cove,

But it's too late.

Lashing seas drive
morgan's own flagship
straight onto the reef.

Dr hanselmann: A ship is
not like a car where you
can slam on your breaks

And avoid a collision, so
morgan runs his flagship,
the satisfaction,

Aground and four other
ships follow suit with a
pile-up on lajas reef.

Narrator: As the ships wreck,
the cannons are thrown loose.

Dr delgado: Timbers are
cracking, the hull is
breaking like a walnut

Squeezed in a vice.

The masts have fallen,
rigging, ropes are snapping,

Men are jumping or
falling off and the
sides of the ship

Where these would be
attached, they're likely
just coming right down

And so things are raining
down on the bottom,

All over the reef,
rolling and tumbling.

Narrator: It's now
clear, morgan's ships
were shattered,

Their wooden remains
vanished over time.

But 350 years later, fritz
has found his cannon.

According to morgan's
letter, most of his men
scrambled to safety.

Undeterred by the
loss of his ships,

Morgan then does something
even more audacious.

This seaborne buccaneer
launches a land invasion,

Marching his men across the
narrow strip of land towards
the pacific coast,

To ransack Spain's colonial
capital, panama city,

Leaving it a smoking ruin.

Dr delgado: The result
is utter shock in the
spanish court.

It's as if a bomb has
gone off in madrid.

Panama has fallen.

Narrator: But why does
a pirate, famous for
hit and runs,

Want to destroy Spain's main
city in the americas?

Fritz discovers a 17th
century document that reveals
henry morgan's true purpose.

The english call morgan not
a pirate but a privateer,

An admiral working for
the english king charles,

Contracted to attack and
rob spanish colonies.

Morgan recruits hundreds
of pirates from around
the caribbean

To help him in his raids,

Splitting the profits
with king charles.

Dr delgado: And so, when
they're robbing, they're
not just robbing,

They're acting as an agent
of the english crown.

Narrator: Making henry
morgan a very rich and
powerful man.

Dr hanselmann: I believe
henry morgan is perhaps the
most successful pirate

Or privateer ever, for
the simple fact that
he actually retired

And enjoyed the spoils
of his wealth.

Narrator: Across the
caribbean, other privateers
follow in morgan's footsteps,

Serving their king while
getting rich quick.

In a sea where no one country
has overall control and with
fleets of treasure ships,

This turns the caribbean
into a paradise for pirates.

And yet, throughout
the whole region,

All that remains are rare
and tantalizing clues.

But now, what can this
remarkable wreck site

Reveal about another
legendary pirate?

Charlie beeker of indiana
university has spent

A lifetime on the trail
of a buccaneer,

Every bit as infamous
as henry morgan.

Captain william kidd.

Dr beeker: You think of
captain kidd and you've
really gotta think about the

Probably the most infamous
of all pirates we have.

Narrator: The inspiration for
countless books and movies,

William kidd was one of
the caribbean's most
successful raiders.

His exploits make him
rich, famous and feared.

Charlie is on the hunt
for kidd's last ship,

A mysterious wreck that
has eluded historians
for over 300 years.

Called the quedagh merchant,
it was a pirate super-ship

With a towering stern
castle and covered with
intricate carvings.

Some believe it might have
been stuffed with treasure

When it disappeared in
1699 off a small island

Near the south coast
of the dominican republic.

Charlie is on his way
to the last known location
of kidd's famous flagship.

Dr beeker: There is a
shipwreck here, we know that.

Whether or not it's captain
kidd, we'll see, but
we'll take a look at it,

Try and get some
footage of it.

Do our first preliminary
assessment of what
we think might be there.

Narrator: This close
to the shore,

Charlie fears the waves may
have destroyed key evidence

To link this wreck
to captain kidd.

But even from the surface,
he can make something out.

Dr beeker: Well, you
know, if it's captain
kidd's shipwreck,

There's been people looking
for this site for 300 years.

It'd be really quite
exciting to see what
we've got.

Cannons, lots of cannons.

Narrator: Finding 17th
century cannons at the site

Encourages charlie to
gather more information

Scouring the seafloor
for clues.

And by using the data he
collects, it's possible for
us to drain this rocky shore,

To reveal an extraordinary
wreck site,

One that's survived centuries
of breaking waves.

Among the relics, more
cannon, carefully stacked
almost seven feet high.

Beneath them, flukes of
three large anchors poke out

And another smaller pile of
cannon, making 26 in total.

This ship was certainly
well armed, but did it
belong to captain kidd?

Charlie needs more
evidence so he heads
to a local archive.

Buried deep in the files he
finds an account written by
captain kidd himself.

Dr beeker: This is
william kidd's signature.

It says here there are 20
some cannons in the hold.

We have 25, 26
cannons on the site.

Narrator: It's a close match

But to be certain that
he's found captain kidd's
infamous pirate flagship,

Charlie needs something
more conclusive.

And then he makes a
stunning breakthrough.

Y
shore of an island near
the dominican republic,

Maybe the final resting place
of the quedagh merchant

Commanded by the infamous
pirate, captain william kidd.

So is it?

Returning to the drained
caribbean seafloor

The two cannon piles give
a clue to where the ship's
hull would have been.

Buried beneath the canon
pile and preserved in the
seabed, precious clues,

Surviving fragments of wood.

It's such a rare discovery
that charlie beeker hopes it
can help him close this case

And name the wreck.

Dr beeker: What's unusual
about the hull was it's single
plank, just exterior only.

Narrator: The fragment from
the wreck's hull reveals it
was all joined together

With an interlocking tongue
and groove technique known
as rabbeting.

Dr beeker: I knew we had it.
I knew we had a very unique
constructed vessel.

You know, it may not
mean much to the

To the layman, but I
have to tell you,

That's not how we build
ships in europe,

It's not how we build ships
anywhere in the americas in
the 17, 18, 19th century.

Narrator: The workmanship
is extremely precise

And labour-intensive,

So where has this mystery
ship come from?

Charlie examines the
fragment more closely.

Dr beeker: Most
exciting, this piece that
was brought up is teak.

Narrator: Teak is
the most durable and water
resistant species of wood,

But in the 17th century its
most likely origin is india,
some 8,000 miles away.

What is an indian ship
doing in the caribbean?

Charlie digs deeper
into the story of the
quedagh merchant.

Back in the archives he finds
that, just like henry morgan,

Captain kidd was a
privateer, working for
the english king in 1698.

His mission, to prey
on foreign vessels in
the indian ocean.

There, kidd spies an unusual
ship, the quedagh merchant.

Dr beeker: It had a very high
stern castle, very ornate,
lots of carvings on it.

This wasn't a european-built
vessel, this was something
built in india.

Narrator: Kidd sees
the vessel is flying
a foreign flag,

Making her fair game for
a british privateer.

He captures her and discovers
she is full of treasure
silks, sugar and gold.

He likes this beautiful,
powerful prize so much
that he decides to use her

As his own flagship and
so he sails her back to
the caribbean.

But then his fortunes
change dramatically.

Dr beeker: He and his men
were claimed to be pirates.

In the first stop he finds,
the governor says,

"oh, you're being accused
of being a pirate"

And he says, "why
am I a pirate?"

Narrator: Because
he's working for
the english king,

Captain kidd believes
the captured ship is
a legal prize.

What he doesn't know is
that the treasure on board

Belongs to a nobleman in
the court of the indian
mughal emperor.

Kidd's theft triggers a
crisis that threatens
britain's trade

Along the african
and indian coasts.

That means he is now a very
big problem to powerful people
in london and a wanted man.

Dr hanselmann: And he's
sailing around the caribbean
in this really foreign ship

From the indian ocean,
so it's not like he's
inconspicuous.

Narrator: Kidd decides to
leave his ship in the
hands of a merchant

And heads to boston
to clear his name.

But there he's arrested
and sent to london.

By now he's a pawn in
an international power
game and expendable.

Found guilty of piracy

He's sentenced to death.

Dr beeker: When they
hanged him up the first
time, the rope broke.

He lands on the ground, and
of course, I would think that
might be a sign from god

Or someone else that maybe
we ought to talk about this.

No, they just strung
him up a second time

And then took a gibbet
and put is body into a
steel cage

And hung that up to
warn everyone else
not to turn pirate.

Narrator: But what happened
to the beautiful prize that
cost a pirate his life,

The quedagh merchant?

The drained wreck site
contains one final piece
of information.

On some of the wood,
tiny burn marks.

Charlie pieces
this together with the
matching number of cannon,

The last known sighting of
the ship and its unique teak
construction to confirm

That this really is
captain kidd's ship and
discovery its fate.

Even before kidd's trial,
the merchant looking after
his ship starts to panic.

The beautiful quedagh
merchant is now a
floating liability.

And so, not wanting to
share kidd's fate,

He takes off what treasure
he can and sets her ablaze.

She drifts gently down
wind, before settling into
her final resting place.

Charlie has his
own pirate prize.

Captain kidd's famous
flagship positively
identified.

Dr beeker: So to actually
find a pirate ship
and prove a pirate ship,

It just doesn't get
any better than that.

I mean, this is the
real thing.

Narrator: With her towering
stern castle, intricate
carving and 30 guns,

The quedagh merchant
was an irresistible,
but deadly temptation.

Kidd's fate marks a sea
change in caribbean
pirate history.

Dr hanselmann: Eventually
they cease giving these
privateering commissions

But what happens is you
have a large group of men

Who are used to making
a certain amount of money,

Having some income, having
some coin in their pocket

And all of a sudden they
can't do that anymore.

They're not gonna go back
to being normal sailors,
getting paid lousy wages.

They're gonna become pirates.

Narrator: The fall of
captain kidd heralds the
golden age of piracy

As dozens of ex privateers
now go way beyond the law,
inspiring countless legends,

From long john silver
to jack sparrow.

A character reminiscent
of the most feared and
famous pirate of them all,

The infamous edward teach,
better known as blackbeard.

And now, archaeologists
may be about to solve
an enduring mystery.

What happened to his
flagship, the queen
anne's revenge,

The most feared pirate
ship of them all.

Narrator: June 10th, 1718.

The queen anne's revenge,
one of the most terrifying
pirate ships of all time,

Is prowling the atlantic
coast of north america.

She's fresh from one of
the most daring raids
in pirate history,

Blockading the port of
charleston, south carolina

When, our of nowhere,
she runs aground.

The captain orders,
"abandon ship."

He leaves some of his
crew on a nearby island,
then disappears.

A few months later,
he is dead.

His name, blackbeard.

The way blackbeard has been
portrayed in movies

And tv shows has shaped
our idea of what a pirate
looks and sounds like.

Blackbeard: Ahhaarr.

Dr briggs: I like to think
of blackbeard kind of

As the jimi hendrix of
the pirate world.

He changed the face
of piracy forever.

Blackbeard captured dozens of
prizes, sank tons of ships

And really terrorized
the caribbean.

Narrator: Even in his
own lifetime, blackbeard
is a living legend.

Contemporaries describe him
as tall with a long frock
coat packed with pistols,

Blazing eyes and a giant
beard, stuffed with
burning cannon fuses

Which fizzle as he walks.

After 300 years of
mystery and legend,

What can this strange
pile of metal reveal

About the fate of blackbeard
and his ship?

In 1996, in beaufort inlet,
north carolina,

A professional diving
company called intersal comes
across something unexpected.

David: They picked up a
disturbance in the earth's
magnetic field

And so, when they picked
that target up, the divers

Were sent down to see what
created that signature on
the magne-tometer.

Narrator: They ask a
team of archaeologists
to investigate.

Among them, dr. Lisa briggs.

Dr briggs: If I'm honest
it's kind of terrifying
to dive on.

The water is really
murky, it's a sand tiger
shark breeding ground.

Narrator: As lisa searches
through the murky waters,

She discovers unusual looking
shapes on the seabed.

Dr briggs: The first thing
you're confronted with is this
massive pile of artefacts,

But it's covered in
sea urchins and lots
of marine life

And you really have to
try to interpret what it
looked like in the past.

Narrator: Could these
mysterious objects be from
the queen anne's revenge?

Using the dive scans
made by lisa and the
team of investigators,

We can now drain away
these murky waters
to reveal a monster.

A mysterious pile of
jagged metal, made of
several cannon

And at least two giant
anchors stuck together.

Nearby, scattered about,
even more cannon, at
least 24 in all.

Across the whole site,
metal balls of various
shapes and sizes.

Dr briggs: We're talking
hundreds if not thousands
of cannon balls.

This ship, it was
armed to the teeth.

It had dozens of cannons, it
had swivel guns on the decks

And it had over a quarter
of a million pieces of
lead shot.

Narrator: This is the kind
of weaponry you'd expect

From the caribbean's most
fearsome pirate,

Though it's not
conclusive evidence that
this is blackbeard's ship.

But on the wreck site
there's another clue.

A distinctive wooden
structure and on it,

Remarkably preserved,
markings.

Dr briggs: A v and an I
which in roman numerals is a
five and a one which is six.

This is a common marker for
the depth of the stern post.

Narrator: The stern post
is the piece of wood

At the back of the ship
that holds the rudder.

The number corresponds
to its height.

Dr briggs: When we actually
measured it though,

We realized that this did not
equate to six english feet,

This equated to six
french feet.

Narrator: In the 18th century,
the french and english

Don't agree on anything,
even the length of a foot.

Dr briggs: So, the stern
post and probably the
majority of the vessel

Was constructed in France.

Narrator: Its french origins
are a key piece of evidence.

Naval records reveal that
blackbeard's ship began

Its life as a french frigate
called la concorde.

Dr briggs: We have
archival evidence form the
captain of la concorde

Who was making a case to
his boss and said,

"hey, I'm really sorry I
lost the ship but this
very terrifying pirate,

Blackbeard, took it from me."

Narrator: The location
of the wreck, the
overwhelming fire power

And the confirmed
french origin all point
to one conclusion.

Dr briggs: I'd say
with probably a 99
percent accuracy

That this is the queen
anne's revenge, this is
blackbeard's ship.

Narrator: After 300 years,
the most famous pirate ship
of them all has been found.

And the archaeological
evidence allows us, for
the very first time,

To reconstruct
blackbeard's flagship in
all her fearsome glory.

David: She was a fast
sailing warship,

A french light frigate,
designed for speed.

And by the time blackbeard
got hold of her,

She literally would have
been bristling with guns.

Narrator: This is a
ship to strike fear into
all who sailed the seas.

So why does blackbeard
abandon her and her crew?

The answer lies in
british archives.

In 1718, with piracy
plaguing the caribbean,

The authorities
launch a crackdown.

Blackbeard steers clear
and heads north to escape.

But in the end, he realizes
he can run but he can't hide.

David: Continuing to
operate a vessel the size
and with the reputation

Of queen anne's revenge, he
saw the writing on the wall.

Narrator: For all her
firepower, the queen anne's
revenge is too small

To take on the might of the
british navy and yet too
big to lie low.

Lisa concludes that is why
blackbeard runs her aground.

Dr briggs: This was a
deliberate act,

Not only getting rid of
a ship that could have
gotten him busted

Further up the coast, but
to keep a larger share of
the treasure to himself

And get rid of over 100
pirates in the process.

Narrator: But blackbeard
can't shake the pirate life.

Six months later he's back,
hoping for one final pay day

And this time the royal navy
makes sure they do track him
down and kill him.

With the death of blackbeard,
the golden age of piracy is
drawing to a close.

Over 900 miles to
the southeast,

On a remote reef in the
turks and caicos islands,

Can these abandoned anchors
help explain how caribbean
piracy finally ends.

Eard's former pirate
stronghold in the bahamas,

Is the remote archipelago of
the turks and caicos islands.

Michael pateman is a
historian who's become
fascinated by a local legend

About an 18th century
shipwreck on a reef
far out to sea.

Michael: Everyone talks
about this is the most
fascinating wreck to see.

This is the best wreck
in the caribbean.

What was the ship, what
was it doing there, how
did it wreck?

Who, who was on this ship?

Narrator: The wreck is
nearly two hours away.

It's a risky journey.

This is hurricane season
and the weather could
change at any time.

Michael: It can be
perfectly calm in the
harbour but we go out there

And it's rough and
it's very isolated.

Narrator: Michael
arrives at a spot around
seven miles southwest

Of the remote big sand cay.

The swell keeps
down just enough.

Forty feet beneath the waves,
to one side of a jagged ridge
of corral, are giant anchors.

Nearby, a cluster of cannon.

But with no surviving
hull, it's impossible to
know what ship this is.

Using michael's scan data
to drain this remote reef,

Reveals a stunning underwater
landscape, rich with clues.

To the side of an outcrop
of coral, at least 28
cannon in a rough line.

A large pile of rectangular
objects is ballast.

To the other side of
the rock, anchors.

Each of these measure
15 ft in length and
weigh 4500 lbs.

The ship wrecked here
must have been large.

And what's more, the
cannon all seem identical
to each other.

To michael's eye, the
wreckage is at least
200 years old.

He consults the turks and
caicos government records
in the archives

Of the national museum.

They confirm that in 1790,
a vessel sinks in exactly

The spot where this
wreck is located.

The casualty of a
great storm.

She belongs to the
british royal navy and
her name is hms endymion.

Hms endymion is 115 ft long.

Navy designers have
managed to fit in not
one but two gun decks,

Doubling the number
of cannons she's able to
carry to an impressive 44.

She's unusually powerful
for a ship of her class.

Prof grove: She's not
meant to fight in the
line of battle,

She's meant to operate
in shallow waters

And operate against
relatively small vessels.

She's a fast, well armed
trade defence vessel.

She was the policeman
on the beat.

Narrator: In other
words, endymion was
a pirate stopper.

In the 60 years since
blackbeard, britain's royal
navy has become more powerful.

Beating other
european powers for
control of the seas,

It's now on a mission
to stamp out piracy.

Michael: Well, the endymion
is just a perfect example

Of how the british
controlled the seas
in the caribbean.

So you can just see this
powerful vessel sailing
around, escorting ships,

Attacking pirates if
there were pirates.

Narrator: Michael's
research can now reveal

What caused the british
navy ship to sink.

On August 23rd, 1790 hms
endymion is sailing
alone in the open sea,

After protecting merchant
ships from pirates, when she
hits this uncharted reef.

But there are plenty
of others ready to
take her place.

Endymion was just one of
dozens of vessels the royal
navy had at its disposal,

All ready to take on the
pirates of the caribbean.

Prof grove: To lock this
place down, you've got to
exert overwhelming force.

You've got to show that you
can outpirate the pirates.

Narrator: It's the end
of the pirate's paradise.

Gone are the land grabs of
henry morgan and the hit

And run antics of captain
kidd and blackbeard.

Now, the caribbean's
lawlessness is replaced by the
rise of the british empire

And then the emergence
of the new united
states of america.

Michael: So, the caribbean
stopped being such a lawless
environment

Really after the european
powers stopped fighting
each other.

Blackbeard: Fire!

Narrator: The golden
age of piracy is over.

But we've still not
seen the last of them.

Dr delgado: As long as
there's crime, there's going
to be crime on the water.

Any place where you have
people passing through,
isolated, vulnerable,

Then a pirate's
going to be there.

Captioned by subtitlepro llc