Archaeologists Find 6 Nassau Shipwrecks, With 3 Tied to Piracy's Golden Age
Updated
Updated · Livescience.com · Jun 4
Archaeologists Find 6 Nassau Shipwrecks, With 3 Tied to Piracy's Golden Age
3 articles · Updated · Livescience.com · Jun 4
Summary
Six shipwrecks were identified in and near Nassau after a 2025 expedition won rare permission to dive the harbor's closed zone; three are linked to the late 1600s-to-1720s Golden Age of Piracy.
One harbor wreck shows a burned wooden hull buried under ballast stones and 1700s-era treenails, matching a pirate tactic of stripping cargo and weapons, then burning ships to erase evidence.
A second site about 22 miles east of Nassau held a deck cannon, swivel gun, musket balls and a sword-sharpening stone, while a third under Nassau's old bridge yielded rigging, bottles and galley bricks despite damage.
The finds are the first excavated wrecks tied to Nassau's pirate era, when Governor Woodes Rogers reported 40 burned and sunken ships off the port in 1718.
Artifacts from a separate 1740s-1750s English wreck, including clay tobacco pipes with the British coat of arms, also trace Nassau's shift from pirate stronghold to regular colonial trade.
Beyond treasure, what do these wrecks reveal about the brutal, everyday reality of a pirate's life in the Caribbean?
Is the charred hull truly Henry Avery's infamous flagship, or could another forgotten story lie beneath Nassau's waters?
How will the Bahamas balance preserving priceless pirate wrecks with the pressures of a new tourism gold rush?
2026 Nassau Harbour Pirate Shipwrecks: Archaeologists Uncover Six Vessels from the Golden Age of Piracy
Overview
On June 2, 2026, an international team of archaeologists announced the landmark discovery of six shipwrecks in Nassau Harbour’s previously closed zone. This marks the first official exploration of the area specifically for pirate wrecks, with three vessels definitively linked to the Golden Age of Piracy. The findings offer unprecedented insights into Caribbean history, providing tangible evidence of Nassau’s pivotal role as a pirate stronghold between the 1690s and 1720s. These discoveries move beyond historical accounts, revealing how pirate crews used Nassau as a base and deepening our understanding of this crucial era.