Blackbeard Blockades Charleston
In May 1718, Edward Teach — ‘Blackbeard’ — blockaded the harbour of Charleston, South Carolina, for a week with his flagship Queen Anne’s Revenge and three sloops. He intercepted eight or nine vessels and held prominent citizens hostage, demanding a chest of medical supplies as ransom. The colony had no warships to oppose him. The brazen blockade of a British colonial capital shocked authorities in London and accelerated the campaign to suppress piracy. Blackbeard was killed six months later in a planned naval ambush off Ocracoke Island by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of HMS Pearl.
- Year: 1718 CE
- Category: Military
