Captain Morgan's Cannons Found?

Concealed Weapons

Photograph courtesy Facundo Bacardi

Archaeologists Fritz Hanselmann (left) and James Delgado, both of the Waitt Institute, examine some of the guns brought up from shipwrecks near the mouth of Panama's Chagres River in 2010.

The cannons—said to have been used by Capt. Henry Morgan to attack Spanish ships and settlements in the 17th century—are encrusted by organic concretions after almost 350 years on the ocean floor.

The smaller firearms were mounted on the decks of Captain Morgan's ships and used like shotguns during close combat. The larger guns were mounted belowdecks, fired through special windows, and were used against long-range targets, including Spanish forts and warships.

Captain Morgan is thought to have been born in Wales around 1635. Not much is known about his early career as a sailor. By 1660, however, he had demonstrated enough daring and skill to be appointed a captain in a fleet of privateers hired by England to attack and harass Spanish settlements and shipping operations in the New World.

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