The date and place of the ship's construction are uncertain,[3] and there is no record of its actions prior to 1710 when it was operating as a French privateer as La Concorde.

[4][5] Surviving features of the ship's construction strongly suggest it was built by French shipwrights, based on differences in fastening patterns in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

In 1996, Intersal Inc., a private firm, discovered the remains of a vessel that was later determined to be Queen Anne's Revenge,[9] which was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

[12] After selling her cargo of slaves at Martinique, Blackbeard made the vessel his flagship, added more heavy cannons and renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge.

[14] Shortly after blockading Charleston harbor in May 1718, and refusing to accept the Governor's offer of the King's Pardon, Blackbeard ran Queen Anne's Revenge aground while entering Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, on 10 June 1718.

A deposition given by David Herriot, the former captain of the sloop Adventure, states "Thatch's [Teach's] ship Queen Anne's Revenge run a-ground off of the Bar of Topsail-Inlet."

Shortly afterward, he surrendered and accepted the King's Pardon for himself and his remaining crewmen from Governor Charles Eden at Bath, North Carolina.

[17] It was located by Intersal's director of operations, Mike Daniel, who used historical research provided by the company's president, Phil Masters[18][19] and maritime archaeologist David Moore.

[20] The shipwreck lies in 28 feet (8.5 m) of water about one mile (1.6 km) offshore of Fort Macon State Park (34°41′44″N 76°41′20″W), Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

[23][24] For one week in 2000 and 2001, live underwater video of the project was webcast to the Internet as a part of the QAR DiveLive[25] educational program that reached thousands of children around the world.

[26] Created and co-produced by Nautilus Productions and Marine Grafics, this project enabled students to talk to scientists and learn about methods and technologies utilized by the underwater archaeology team.

[39] Specific artifacts that support this conclusion include a brass coin weight bearing the bust of Queen Anne of Great Britain, cast during her reign (1702–1714); the stem of a wine glass decorated with diamonds and tiny embossed crowns, made to commemorate the 1714 coronation of Queen Anne's successor, King George I; the remains of a French hunting sword featuring a bust that closely resembles King Louis XV, who claimed the French throne in 1715; and a urethral syringe for treating venereal diseases with a control mark indicating manufacture between 1707 and 1715 in Paris, France.

[50] Recognizing the significance of Queen Anne's Revenge, the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR), Intersal, and Maritime Research Institute (MRI) entered into a memorandum of agreement in 1998.

In return, Intersal was granted media, replica, and other rights related to an entity known as Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project;[52] MRI was granted joint artifact touring rights with NCDNCR, Intersal, and Rick Allen of Nautilus Productions signed a settlement agreement[53] on 24 October 2013, connected to commercial, replica, and promotional opportunities for the benefit of Queen Anne's Revenge.

Archaeological recovery ceased on the shipwreck after the 2015 season because of lawsuits filed against the State of North Carolina, the NCDNCR, and the Friends of the Queen Anne's Revenge nonprofit.

As a result, Nautilus Productions, the company documenting the recovery since 1998, filed suit in federal court over copyright violations and the passage of "Blackbeard's Law" by the North Carolina legislature.

[59][60][61] Before posting the videos the North Carolina Legislature passed "Blackbeard's Law", N.C. General Statute §121-25(b),[62] which stated, "All photographs, video recordings, or other documentary materials of a derelict vessel or shipwreck or its contents, relics, artifacts, or historic materials in the custody of any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions shall be a public record pursuant to Chapter 132 of the General Statutes."