Expedition Finds 6 Nassau Shipwrecks, Including 3 From Piracy's Golden Age

Q: Could a burned wreck in Nassau Harbor solve the mystery of pirate Henry Every’s legendary ship, the Fancy?

Yes — but only as a strong possibility, not a proven identification. The burned wreck in Nassau Harbor fits several key details associated with Henry Every’s *Fancy*. Archaeologists say the hull appears to date to the piracy era, is of roughly the right size and construction, and was burned to the waterline, a tactic pirates were known to use after stripping a ship of valuables and equipment. The wreck’s stripped condition also matches historical accounts that *Fancy* was abandoned in Nassau in 1696 after Every’s hugely profitable 1695 raid on a Mughal convoy. The location matters. Nassau was emerging as a pirate base at exactly that time, and researchers say Every’s activities helped establish it as a safe haven for pirates. The wreck’s surviving features, including 18th-century-style treenails and a stone ballast pile, are consistent with an early vessel of the right period. That makes it one of the most credible physical candidates yet for *Fancy*. But the evidence is still circumstantial. No inscription, cargo, or uniquely identifying artifact has tied the wreck directly to Every or his crew. As expedition co-director Sean Kingsley noted, pirates kept few records, and Nassau Harbor contains many wrecks from different eras, making certainty difficult. So the wreck could help solve the mystery of *Fancy*, and it may be the best lead so far. For now, though, archaeologists can only say it is a plausible candidate pending further mapping, excavation, and analysis.

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 25

Six shipwrecks found near Nassau include three dating to the 1650s-1730s, which researchers say may be the first direct wreck links to pirates based in The Bahamas.
One likely pirate wreck yielded an iron cannon, swivel gun, lead musket balls and a sword sharpener, while its narrow ballast mound and lack of cargo point to a fast pirate sloop.
Another wreck produced clay tobacco pipes with England's royal crest, glass bottles and bricks, suggesting a 1740s English trader and offering evidence of Nassau's shift from pirate haven to regular port.
A large burned wooden hull in Nassau Harbor may match the time and size of a ship tied to Henry Avery, but co-director Sean Kingsley said more scientific work is needed to identify it.
The team plans multibeam, 3D photography and underwater-drone mapping of the harbor, saying more wrecks may survive despite damage from modern urban construction.