Adventure (ship)

For other uses, see Adventure (disambiguation)

"We are an unimaginative lot when it comes to naming things." The title of this article is conjectural. Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

Adventure
Career information
Captain(s)	Blackbeard
Technical information
Battles	Battle of Ocracoke Inlet
Affiliation	Blackbeard's crew

"And what of you? The mighty Blackbeard. Beheaded, they say. Still, your body swam three times around your ship, then climbed back onboard."

―Jack Sparrow to Blackbeard

The Adventure was a pirate ship that was captained by Edward "Blackbeard" Teach.

History

Little is known of the Adventure other than it was a ship captured by Edward "Blackbeard" Teach. After his career as a pirate began when he fell in with Ben Hornigold, who gave young Teach command of a sloop, Blackbeard achieved his reputation in less than two short years, but eventually made the fatal mistake, however, of anchoring in Ocracoke Inlet which had but one exit to the sea. Lieutenant Robert Maynard, an officer of the British Royal Navy, was sent to track down Blackbeard and destroy the pirate, whose crew sailed aboard the Adventure.

On November 22, 1718, Lieutenant Maynard of the British Navy attacked at dawn in two small ships and came up alongside Blackbeard's ship. The pirate cut the cable in an attempt to out-run his foe, but ran aground. When Maynard's sloops came within range, the black villain destroyed everything above decks with a broadside of grapeshot, chains, and nails. Only Maynard and his helmsman appeared standing on the dismembered sloop. Blackbeard and his crew triumphantly boarded the ship but found Maynard's entire force awaiting them. Before the broadside, Maynard had ordered his men below decks. What followed was one of the bloodiest hand-to-hand combats in the history of piracy. There was a tremendous fight onboard, and when the smoke had cleared and the ring of the cutlasses had ceased, only a handful of Blackbeard's men was left standing.

Legend said that Blackbeard was beheaded, but still swam three times around his ship, then climbed back onboard.

According to legend, the mighty Blackbeard was supposedly beheaded and still swam around his ship three times headless, then climbed back onboard. Through undetermined circumstances, however, Blackbeard managed to survive and continued to live for many years. The legacy of Blackbeard's legendary death in battle reverberated for decades after the fighting ended in 1718, most notably by Jack Sparrow when he was forced aboard Blackbeard's ship Queen Anne's Revenge during the quest for the Fountain of Youth circa 1750.

Behind the scenes

"Do you decide what we do, Israel?"
"If you fail to, Ed, then yes I do. Why? Do you want to stay and try to fight from the Adventure? She's nothing but a damned sloop, man, scarcely more than a turtle-boat! Let's get back to where we left the Queen Anne's Revenge hidden and get out to sea again! To hell with this surf-and-shoal dallying—I want to feel a real deck under my feet again, heaving on a real sea.""

―Ed Thatch and Israel Hands

The Adventure was the ship of Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, along with the Queen Anne's Revenge. Marc Davis had both the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Adventure in handwritten notes when he did research for Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean when it was a wax museum walkthrough, which were notably revealed through the 2019 book Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is the 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean film which took inspiration from On Stranger Tides, the 1987 novel by Tim Powers that also featured Blackbeard in a key role. In the novel, which takes place in 1718, after his search for the Fountain of Youth in Florida, Blackbeard hid the Queen Anne's Revenge and sailed the Adventure into battle and a legendary death at Ocracoke Inlet. The Adventure was also identified as a sloop. By contrast, in the film, which takes place circa 1750, Blackbeard's "ship" was unnamed and referenced in a line of dialogue from Jack Sparrow to Blackbeard, where Sparrow said the mighty Blackbeard was beheaded, and his body swam three times around his ship, then climbed back onboard.

The souvenir book for Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean stated that Ben Hornigold gave young Edward Teach command of a sloop. The remains of a sunken ship named the Adventure appear in the 1996 book Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean. While unconfirmed, it is unclear whether or not they were meant to be Blackbeard's Adventure.

Appearances

• Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean (Possible appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Indirect mention only)

Sources

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Story of the Robust Adventure in Disneyland and Walt Disney World (Indirect mention only)
• Marc Davis in His Own Words | D23 Expo Highlights on the official Disney YouTube channel (First identified as Adventure)
• Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks

Notes and references

Pirate ships in Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirate ships Adventure – Black Barnacle – Black Bart's ship – Black Dog – Black Harbinger – Black Pearl – Black Pearl (frigate) – Buzzard – Centurion – Ching's flagship – Cobra – Cursed crew's pirate ship – Cutlass – Death Omen – Dolphin – Dragon – Dying Gull – Empress – Fancy – Fleur de la Mort – Fortune – Fuchuan – Ghostly Seadog – Gretchen – Grim Reaper – Hai Peng – Hanyu Pinyin – Harkaway – HMS Interceptor – Jack Sparrow's bilander – Jack Sparrow's corvette – Jack Sparrow's galleon – Jack Sparrow's sloop – King George's Amnesty – Kin Tai Fong – Kirbac – Koldunya – La Vipère – Misty Lady – Monkeebutt – Nemesis – Neptune – Ningpo – Otter – Paradox – Pearl – Phantom – Pirate galleon – Princess – Queen Anne's Revenge – Ranger – Red Dragon – Revenant – Revenge – Royal Fortune – Ruddy Rose – Satisfaction – Sea Nymph – Sea Star – Seref – Siren's Revenge – Smilin' Jack's ship – Song – Sparrow – Storm Reaper – Swift – Troubadour – Venganza –Victory – Wicked Wench (Isla Tesoro) – Wicked Wench (Captain Morgan)
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