In 1718, on this day the most talented officer in the Royal Navy, Captain Edward Teach was lost off the coast of North Carolina.

Death of Captain Edward TeachBorn in Britain's second city in 1680, the 17th-century rise of Britain's American colonies and the rapid 18th-century expansion of the Atlantic slave trade had made Bristol an important international sea port. And naturally, he enrolled in his earliest teenage years.

He came to the attention of the Admiralty as a result of his daredevil exploits in the intense fighting of Queen Anne's War. And although he was considered unorthodox, he was finally rewarded with the Captaincy of the vessel HMS Queen Anne's Revenge, but tragically died during a storm at Teach's Cove.