7. Queen Anne’s Revenge
Hornigold retired from piracy in 1717, but Blackbeard continued independently on his own. Soon thereafter, he seized a French ship, remodeled and equipped it with 40 cannons, renamed her Queen Anne’s Revenge, and made her his flagship. He then formed a pirate alliance, and used it to commit his most notorious act: a successful blockade of Charleston, South Carolina, holding the city hostage until he was paid a ransom.
Blackbeard accepted a royal pardon in 1718, but soon reneged and returned to piracy. So Virginia’s governor ordered an expedition to hunt him down. Led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard, the expedition tracked Blackbeard, and found him on November 22nd, 1718, anchored at Oracoke Island, off North Carolina. Blackbeard was outnumbered, as most of his men were ashore at the time, but he refused to surrender. He put up a fierce fight before he finally went down on the deck of his ship, after taking five bullets and over twenty sword cuts.