Pina coladas, seafood, festivals, beach and shopping (not to mention cruise ships) are the faces of St. Thomas Virgin Islands today. However, at one time, the pirates of St. Thomas Virgin Island ruled and plundered it’s beautiful waters and shores making the island a very unruly and undesirable place to be.
While vacationing there one summer, we took a boat ride from St. Thomas to St. John (highly recommend). It was on our trip back to St. Thomas that our skipper filled us in on the pirate history surrounding the harbor entrance into Charlotte Amalie.
Blackbeard’s Statue via Moresheth
According to our skipper, St Thomas was a favorite spot for Blackbeard and members of his fleet. As a matter of fact, he liked it so much that he built two stone towers on hills opposite each other at the entrance into the cruise harbor.
You can see them from a boat. These small towers, now largely in ruin, held a massive chain that draped across the harbor entrance.
Whenever a ship was trying to enter the harbor, this enormous chain would be raised in order to stop the ship from entering until Blackbeard was able to ascertain who it was. If the ship was found to not be of his own fleet, the cannons would fire upon the ship until it sank, killing the crew. If the ship did belong to Blackbeard, the chain would be dropped and the ship allowed to enter the harbor.
So, here’s the thing, I do not really know how much of that is true, however, I do know that the tower ruins ARE sitting on those opposing hillsides at the harbor entrance and I do know there is a fortune sitting on the bottom sea floor of the harbor entrance.
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via caribb
In the waters below you as you enter the harbor, lies numerous ships that were sunk by Blackbeard. You would never guess that you were gliding over treasure that has sat in those very depths for centuries. This is a fact.
The only people who are allowed to dive and examine the shipwreck ruins and the loot are licensed archeologists and under no circumstances is anything to be moved or brought up. This area is being maintained as an underwater museum filled with riches.
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So the next time you pass between those tower ruins on your way to Charlotte Amalie, be aware you are sitting above more riches then you could imagine. What I don’t understand though…why can’t there at least be pictures for all of us to see???
The pirates of St Thomas Virgin Island certainly made the islands an undesirable place to be in the 1600’s however today, their escapades make for a very captivating tale.
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