The media reported the discovery of sunken pirate ships in the Bahamas

An international team of researchers led by a British marine archaeologist has discovered wrecks off the coast of the Bahamas associated with the real pirates of the Caribbean. This was reported on June 2 by The Guardian newspaper, citing scientists.

"These findings are just the tip of the iceberg. I was shocked by the unexpected preservation of the wooden hull. <...> It is possible that there are dozens more sunken ships in and around the harbor," Dr. Sean Kingsley, a British marine archaeologist and co—director of the project, told the newspaper.

It is noted that archaeologists have found a charred wooden body that has preserved the stone ballast. According to researchers, pirates often destroyed the traces of their crimes by setting fire to captured ships after stealing valuable cargo, guns and equipment.

According to the newspaper, among the finds were also a rotary cannon, which the researchers called the "hallmark of pirate attacks," an iron cannon, 25 lead musket bullets and a whetstone for sharpening swords.

In addition, the research team found fragments of rigging, glass bottles, bricks from the galley, and 143 clay smoking pipes.

It is specified that the pipes were decorated with images of a unicorn, a horse, a crown and the royal coat of arms of England, which indicates their London origin and dating from about the 1740s.

Arkeonews magazine reported on April 28 that archaeologists in Spain have identified the wreckage of a 16th-century ship in the Bay of Cadiz as the Genoese merchant ship San Giorgio e Sant'Elmo Buonaventura, which sank during the famous raid of the English pirate Francis Drake in April 1587. Among the most notable discoveries was cochineal, which in the early Modern period became one of the most valuable products exported from America to Europe.