maurice de saxe

Concorde was not English but French, built as a privateer for the War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War) by a slave trading dynasty in Nantes and adapted (probably minimally) for slaving when peace came. Documentary evidence supports this and also indicates it was about 200-300 tons and was pierced for 20 guns on the main deck, with other guns on the forecastle and quarterdeck. Blackbeard apparently added weapons - numbers not know but maybe taking the total to more than 40 (which more than likely included swivels). Archaeological evidence supports the French origin, specifically some plank fastening patterns, the carrying of the garboard strake over the sternpost beyond the rabbet to its after face, and the spacing of draft marks at intervals corresponding to French rather than English feet. From this we can conclude that a good basis for extrapolating its appearance would be a contemporary (i.e. 1690-1710) French privateer or small frigate. One valid starting point would be the draft of the Advice Prize, a French privateer armed with 18 guns taken into the Royal Navy in 1704, whose take-off draft is extant at NMM (plan 6186). Jean Boudriot also has useful material for small French frigates from the first quarter of the 18th century in his books, Fregate Marine de France 1650-1850 and Fregate Legere L'Aurore - 1697. Overall, in fact, we do have some sound basis for creating a reasonable representation while acknowledging that insufficient archaeological remains have survived to generate an accurate reconstruction.