In 1996, Divers Discovered Sunken Treasure in 20 Feet of Water Off the Carolina Coast. 15 Years Later, They Learned Who it Actually Belonged to

NEED TO KNOW

In 1996, a team of divers found something extraordinary off the coast of North Carolina: a dozen cannons sitting in 20 feet of water

Their hunch at the time — that the cannons were part of a shipwreck — proved to be right

Indeed, the wreck itself, scientists later confirmed, belonged to the infamous pirate Blackbeard

It almost seemed like fate when, one day before the 278th anniversary of Blackbeard's 1718 death, a team of divers found a pile of treasured historical artifacts hidden in just 20 feet of water — including cannons that would later be confirmed to have belonged to the infamous pirate.

It was Nov. 21, 1996 when a group of marine archaeologists from North Carolina and Intersal, a private company that hunts for historic shipwrecks, happened upon the cannons and o