''Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship'' is a New York Times best-selling non-fiction book by

Robert Kurson Robert A. Kurson (born April 18, 1963) is an American author, best known for his 2004 bestselling book, ''Shadow Divers'', the true story of two Americans who discover a World War II German U-boat sunk 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey. Caree ...

recounting the discovery of the pirate ship the ''

Golden Fleece In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece ( el, Χρυσόμαλλον δέρας, ''Chrysómallon déras'') is the fleece of the golden-woolled,, ''Khrusómallos''. winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where P ...

'' by two American divers,

John Chatterton John Chatterton (born 1951) is an American wreck diving, wreck diver. Together with Richie Kohler, he was one of the co-hosts for the History (U.S. TV channel), History Channel’s ''Deep Sea Detectives'', for 57 episodes of the series. He is al ...

and

John Mattera John Joseph Mattera (born 1962) is a writer and American shipwreck explorer and the subject of the book '' Pirate Hunters'' by Robert Kurson. ''Pirate Hunters'' is the story of two US divers, John Chatterton and John Mattera, finding the lost ...

, in

Samaná Bay Samaná Bay is a bay in the eastern Dominican Republic. The Yuna River flows into Samaná Bay, and it is located south of the town of Samaná and the Samaná Peninsula. Wildlife Among its features are protected islands that serve as nesting site ...

off the north coast of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

in 2008. Until Chatterton and Mattera discovered the resting place of the ''Golden Fleece'',

Joseph Bannister Joseph Bannister (died 1687, first name occasionally George) was an English pirate who operated in the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy. He is best known for defeating two Royal Navy warships in battle. History Bannister was captain of ...

's success as a pirate had little modern evidence.

Plot summary

Bannister had been a respected sea captain until he turned pirate. The British government was unable to find Bannister for months until officials found him

careening Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the hull of a sailing vessel without the use of a dry dock. It is used for cleaning or repairing the hull. Before ship's hulls were protected from marine growth by fasteni ...

the ''Golden Fleece'' in Samaná Bay. Bannister faced two British

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s, the ''Falcon'' and the ''Drake'', with a combined fifty-six cannons between them. Bannister placed two separate batteries of guns on island vantage points and battled the navy for two full days, until the warships ran out of ammunition and were forced to retreat. For over 350 years, the location of the wreck remained a mystery until after a multi-year search Chatterton and Mattera discovered the wreck long removed from where it was supposed to be.

References

* Shadow Divers Robert Kurson Random House , May 24, 2005 , 416 Pages , 5-3/16 x 8 , * "All Hands on Deck" ''

New York Observer New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

'' 06/16/2015 Matthew Kassel * ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' Doug Most 6/15/2015 * J. McCartney, Robert. "Into the Abyss". ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. * Jump up to: a b Grossman, Lev. "New Jersey's Lost U-Boat". ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' * M. Millard, Pauline. "A seaworthy U-boat saga". ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' * Singer, Michelle. "Divers Tell Tale Of Mystery Sub". CBS News * "Best-Seller Lists: Hardcover Nonfiction". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' * ''New York Times Sunday magazine'' "A Shipwreck Hunter" John Mattera July 19, 2015

External links

C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Kurson on ''Pirate Hunters'', aired August 2, 2015
2015 non-fiction books Books of maritime history Piracy in the Caribbean Works about ships Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea Random House books {{hist-book-stub