( CNN ) -- Dead men tell no tales , but the sea does , as shown Friday when an anchor was recovered from the wreckage of pirate Blackbeard 's flagship . An expedition off the North Carolina coast hoisted the nearly 3,000-pound anchor , one of three belonging to the Queen Anne 's Revenge . Crews were working in just 20 feet of water , according to the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources . The Queen Anne 's Revenge is believed to have run aground in the shallow waters off Beaufort in 1718 . The ship was discovered in 1996 , with piecemeal recovery of artifacts intensifying only a few years ago . Beachcomber stumbles upon historic shipwreck . Staff from the department 's Underwater Archaeology Branch are focused on `` conducting a detailed assessment of the main mound to determine strategies for dis-assembly and recovery , '' according to the Queen Anne 's Revenge website . Conservation of the anchor may take four years . The expedition is trying to score a trove of 18th-century goods , which will be used to educate the public and raise awareness of underwater preservation efforts . The site has already yielded more than 250,000 artifacts , including cannons , gold , platters , glass , beads , shackles and rope , according to the state . The largest exhibit of fully conserved artifacts from the shipwreck will open at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort on June 11 , the Department of Cultural Resources said in a statement . Captain Kidd was funded by London 's elite . An article published in March on the Smithsonian website said the Queen Anne 's Revenge was found to have about 225,000 pieces of lead shot and at least 25 cannons , many of them still loaded . Romanticized in history books as a notorious ruffian , Blackbeard , born in Britain as Edward Teach , terrorized Atlantic seafarers from the shores of the American colonies to the Caribbean . In November 1718 , the captain , believed to be in his late 30s , died in combat against British naval forces . He was on board another vessel , Adventure .
Wreckage of Queen Anne 's Revenge lies off Beaufort , North Carolina . The wreck is the largest ship ever found in a shipwreck and was discovered by accident when it sank during an ice storm on December 31, 1912. One of three anchors brought to surface .