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
John Taylor (pirate) John Taylor (pirate) John Taylor was a pirate who lived in the early 18th century; he was also frequently known as Richard Taylor. He was Edward England's quartermaster and popular with the crew due to his violent disposition. Taylor was responsible for the vote that removed Edward England from command. After that Taylor continued to cruise and captured Arabian and European prizes off the Indian coast. At Reunion Island (off the coast of Madagascar) in April 1721, he together with Olivier Levasseur and Jasper Seagar captured the most valuable prize in pirate history, the 700-ton Portuguese treasure ship "Nossa Senhora