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| Pirate's Scuttled Ship Found |
 Resting only 10 feet below the waters of the Caribbean for the past 309 years, the remains of the Quedah Merchanct, a British treasure ship captured by pirate Captain William Kidd were found this week. Located off of the island of Hispaniola, the wreck, scuttled in 1699, has amazed marine archaeologists by remaining undiscovered for so long.
Expected to reveal a wealth of information about piracy and Kidd, the barnacle covered anchors and cannon are already being examined by experts. "I couldn't believe everybody had missed it for 300 years," Charles Beeker, an Indiana University expert researching the wreck for the Dominican Republic, said. "I've dived on thousands of wrecks and this is one of the first that has not been looted. It's a wonderful historical find." It is believed that the ship was robbed clean of all remaining treasure and burned after Kidd abandoned it.
Captain William Kidd was born in 1645 in Greenock, near Glasgow, but moved to New York seeking adventure. The son of a clergyman, Kidd became a privateer - a mercenary licensed by William III to hunt Britain's enemies, most notably the French and Spanish - and was entitled to keep 10 percent of all of his plunder. Kidd was known for keeping all of his.
After attacking a British East India convoy in 1696 with his ship Adventure Galley, a 284 ton vessel with a crew of 150 and 34 cannon, Kidd was declared a pirate. The Quedah Merchant was captured in 1698. Loaded with gold, silver and fine silks, the 400 ton trading vessel from Armenia proved the perfect replacement for the now rotting and leaking Adventure Galley. The Adventure Galley was scuttled and the Quedah Merchant was renamed and became the new Adventure Galley. After sailing to the Caribbean, she too was scuttled.
Kidd was then lured to Boston by his backer, the Earl of Bellomont, where he was captured, found guilty of piracy and murder, and hanged on May 23, 1701.
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