Graveyard of the Atlantic then drive his ship ashore following the false light. The first recorded shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina was in the early 16th century. This wreck was reported in 1526, off the mouth of Cape Fear River. The large numbers of explorers who came to the area in subsequent years had to travel through the rough waters to get to the coast of North Carolina. In June 1718, Edward Teach — better known as Blackbeard the pirate — ran his flagship, the "Queen Anne's Revenge", aground near present-day Beaufort Inlet, NC. Thirty two years later, in August 1750, at
James Kelly (pirate) James Kelly (pirate) James Gilliam, also known as James Kelly, (died July 12, 1701) was an English pirate active in the Indian Ocean during the 1690s and was a longtime associate of Captain William Kidd. Prior to his association with Kidd, he sailed with George Raynor and Edward Davis aboard the "Batchelor's Delight." One of Kidd's earliest crew members, Gilliam was a participant in the mutiny on board the "Mocha" and the subsequent murder of Captain Edgecomb who was killed in his sleep. After taking command of the East Indiaman, Gilliam and the "Mocha", under successive Captains Ralph Stout and