The Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's flagship, is believed to have run aground in the shallow waters off Beaufort, North Carolina in 1718. The ship was discovered in 1996, with recovery of artifacts intensifying only a few years ago.

Friday, an expedition off the North Carolina coast hoisted a nearly 3,000-pound anchor, one of three belonging to the Queen Anne's Revenge from a location under just 20 feet of water, according to the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.  The anchor joins approximately 250,000 artifacts from the site, including cannons, gold, platters, glass, beads, shackles and rope, according to the state.

Blackbeard, born in Britain as Edward Teach, terrorized Atlantic seafarers from the shores of the American colonies to the Caribbean.   He died fighting British forces a few months after the Queen Anne's Revenge sank.