Hi Mark,
As always, good points and well placed research notes. As far as I know there have been a few cases of sword components found on some English wrecks associated with pirates, notably as mentioned the Whydah and the Henrietta Marie as well. These were of course the hunting hanger type weapons and were severely encrusted. I spent some time going through lists of Spanish wrecks and there were a few references to sword and firearm items among some inventories but no specific mention or detail. Obviously with the Spanish wrecks the focus is on treasure so the weapons were referred to as inconsequential and of little interest to interactions or information on these wrecks. Unfortunately the quest for 'treasure' soundly trumps any valuable archeological data which is held in these wreck sites in altogether too many cases. I would carefully qualify that I mean that generally as I know there are many serious divers out there who do recognize the importance of this detail, and act responsibly in matters accordingly.
Having mentioned that, I am trying to reach a friend who is one of those serious divers and was involved in dives on the Queen Annes Revenge some years ago. I am hoping he can help with data on some Spanish wrecks with his connections, but irs been some time since communicating with him.
I will point out that in the case of the QAR, the ship was abandoned by Blackbeard and he was actually 'downsizing' his forces as he was I believe intending to move toward a surrender in a pardon arrangement. It seems ironic that the events in which he was killed took place considering those circumstances. In any case, there was no reason for small arms of any kind to be left on the ship which was deliberately foundered, and the heavy cannons no longer needed for the smaller ship he transferred to, were of course left in place. I recall pestering my friend and asking 'where are the swords? you keep finding cannons!'.
The sword hilt which was subsequently found near the QAR wreck site in my opinion was collateral debris from a later period, despite the claims made in news items which allude to the possibility of actual connection to the QAR and even as far as suggesting the sword might have been Blackbeards! pure hyperbole! The hilt is of the fashionable court/hunting type with apertures for a chain guard, a feature which as far as I know was not present until after the time of Blackbeards demise. It is likely an item lost overboard in these heavily trafficked lanes at a later time.
All the best,
Jim
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