Pirate Pictures: Captain Morgan's Cannons Found?

Captain Morgan's Cannon?
Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid
Diver Joe Lepore steadies a heavy 17th-century cannon as it's lifted by an airbag from the seafloor near the mouth of Panama's Chagres River (see map) in a recently released picture taken in 2010.
The newly recovered cannon is among six believed to have belonged to the fleet of 17th-century buccaneer Capt. Henry Morgan, whom later accounts painted as a bloodthirsty pirate.
In 1671 Captain Morgan's current flagship, Satisfaction, hit a rocky reef and sank as he sailed out of the mouth of the Chagres River en route to sacking the Panama Viejo, now called Panama City.
Three more of Captain Morgan's ships either slammed into the same reef or collided with each other and also went down. But the determined Welsh privateer reassembled what remained of his fleet and continued on to plunder the city. Privateers were private sailors under contract to states—in Captain Morgan's case, Britain.
In 2008 an international team of archaeologists found the ships—and their cannons—that sank on that disastrous day. In 2010 the scientists began bringing cannons and other artifacts to the surface, where they'll be treated to remove organic buildup and then displayed in Panama.
(See exclusive pictures: "Blackbeard Pirate Relics, Gold Found.")
The project was a collaborative effort that included the government of Panama, the Waitt Institute for Discovery, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Texas State University, and the National Geographic Society. (The Waitt Institute sponsors the Waitt Grants Program for the Society, which also owns National Geographic News.)
—Willie Drye
Published May 24, 2011
Concealed Weapons
Photograph courtesy Facundo Bacardi
Archaeologists Fritz Hanselmann (left) and James Delgado, both of the Waitt Institute, examine some of the guns brought up from shipwrecks near the mouth of Panama's Chagres River in 2010.
The cannons—said to have been used by Capt. Henry Morgan to attack Spanish ships and settlements in the 17th century—are encrusted by organic concretions after almost 350 years on the ocean floor.
The smaller firearms were mounted on the decks of Captain Morgan's ships and used like shotguns during close combat. The larger guns were mounted belowdecks, fired through special windows, and were used against long-range targets, including Spanish forts and warships.
Captain Morgan is thought to have been born in Wales around 1635. Not much is known about his early career as a sailor. By 1660, however, he had demonstrated enough daring and skill to be appointed a captain in a fleet of privateers hired by England to attack and harass Spanish settlements and shipping operations in the New World.
(Also see "Oldest Writing in New World Discovered, Scientists Say.")
Published May 24, 2011
Crusty Cannon
Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid
Beneath the long mass of organic buildup (pictured in 2010) is a small cannon that was likely used on the deck of Captain Morgan's ship Satisfaction.
Artifacts are not transported in this manner—the cannon is in the back of a pickup truck only to demonstrate its small size, the archaeologists said.
The oval object in front of the cannon is one of Satisfaction's ballast stones, which were moved or removed to enhance stability in the water. The encrustations cemented the stone to the cannon during years underwater.
(See "'Blackbeard's Ship' Yields New Clues to Pirate Mystery.")
Published May 24, 2011
"Clever" Captain Morgan
Illustration from Rischgitz/Getty Images
A 1680 engraving of Capt. Henry Morgan depicts his ships attacking a Spanish fleet in the background.
Captain Morgan combined successful careers as a privateer and politician. After plundering Spanish settlements in Central America and South America and attacking Spanish ships in the Caribbean Sea, he was knighted by Britain's King Charles in 1674 and appointed lieutenant governor of Jamaica. He also owned a large sugar plantation in Jamaica and apparently enjoyed his final years there.
"He was very clever and articulate, and had a sense of humor," said Waitt Institute Executive Director Dominique Rissolo, who worked on the underwater excavation of Morgan's ships.
The privateer was also known to enjoy "a good libation" and drank himself to death in 1688, Rissolo said.
(Related: "Grim Life Cursed Real Pirates of Caribbean.")
Published May 24, 2011
Daring Attack
Illustration from Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
An undated print shows Captain Morgan's ships attacking Spanish ships off Maracaibo, Venezuela—then a Spanish settlement—in April 1669.
When Morgan tried to sail through an inlet linking Lake Maracaibo and the Caribbean Sea, he was attacked by Spanish forces that thought they'd caught their old nemesis.
But Morgan then managed to sink two Spanish ships, forced a third to surrender, and escaped.
(Also see "Clues to Pirate Gold Unearthed in Florida, Treasure Hunters Claim.")
Published May 24, 2011
Rough Waters
Photograph courtesy Dominique Rissolo
Waitt Institute archaeologists Joe Lepore (left) and Fritz Hanselmann stand in shallow water in 2010 as they prepare to dive to the shipwrecks near the mouth of the Chagres River. The distortion of the horizon is caused by the fish-eye lens used by Dominique Rissolo, executive director of the institute.
The winds and currents off the mouth of the river make diving tricky, Rissolo said.
"When the north winds blow, it makes for some rough diving," he said. "When the river is running fast, currents wash out over the reef, limiting visibility. It's challenging to work in that area."
The divers had to swim to the site about 300 feet (91 meters) from where they're standing in this picture. The team removed the Captain Morgan artifacts from about 35 feet (11 meters) underwater.
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Published May 24, 2011
Raise the Cannon
Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid
Divers prepare to attach a 17th-century cannon to an inflated airbag to lift the big gun to the surface in 2010.
The calcium carbonate crust covering the cannon is caused by a chemical reaction between the salty seawater and the iron in the cannon.
(See "Captain Kidd's Ship Found off Dominican Island.")
Published May 24, 2011
Airbag Assist
Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid
A diver steadies a small cannon as it's lifted from the bottom of the sea by an inflated airbag in 2010.
Captain Morgan and his crew used small cannons like these to repel enemy sailors who tried to board ships.
The guns were loaded with iron pellets called canister shot.
(See "Explorers Search for Slave Shipwreck off Florida.")
Published May 24, 2011
Cannon Closeup
Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid
Holding a type of ruler, archaeologist Dominique Rissolo examines a 9-foot-long (2.7-meter-long) cannon that fell from a Spanish fort near the mouth of Panama's Chagres River in 2010.
The fort, Castillo de San Lorenzo, overlooked the river from hundred-foot (31-meter) cliffs. English ships under Adm. Edward Vernon attacked the fort in 1740, destroying part of the stronghold's walls and causing cannons and debris to tumble into the sea.
Rissolo and other archaeologists recovered cannons from Captain Morgan's ships, which sank nearby in 1671. The team didn't, however, recover any of the cannons from the fort (including the above).
(See "Evidence of 16th-Century Spanish Fort in Appalachia?")
Published May 24, 2011