AH-WR-1425

Quedagh Merchant

Armed Merchant Ship · Armenia (owner)/prize of England · Lost 1699 · Cuba & the Greater Antilles

The prize ship Captain Kidd abandoned in 1699, found off Catalina Island in 2007 and now a protected Dominican dive preserve.

Captain of Record

Roger Darpino

AHR-1938

See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Quedagh Merchant was an Armenian-owned trading ship captured by the Scottish privateer-turned-pirate William Kidd in the Indian Ocean in January 1698. Fearing seizure of the valuable prize, Kidd anchored her off Hispaniola in 1699 while he sailed on in a smaller vessel to try to clear his name in New York. Left in the hands of associates, the ship was reportedly looted and burned. Her remains, a dense field of stacked cannon and ballast, were rediscovered off Catalina Island, Dominican Republic, in 2007 and identified through years of archaeological study.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 350
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Owned by an Armenian merchant (Coirgi); captured by Captain William Kidd January 1698

Loss

Date: January 1, 1699
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Near Catalina Island, southeastern Dominican Republic
Water: Caribbean Sea
Voyage: Captured in the Indian Ocean, January 1698 → Awaiting Kidd's return before final disposition
Cargo: Remaining trade goods after earlier sales
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: William Kidd (as captor); left under a prize crew

The Wreck Today

Depth: 3-10
Condition: Cargo of stacked cannon and ballast largely intact; little upper hull structure survives
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 2007
Protection: Protected under Dominican Republic law as a Living Museum in the Sea (Naufragio de Capitán Kidd), inaugurated 2011

Position

Coordinates: 18.36° N 68.75° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Catalina Island, southeastern Dominican Republic
Region: Cuba & the Greater Antilles

Site lies close inshore off Catalina Island; exact coordinates are managed by Dominican heritage authorities and not published in detail to protect the site.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (82/100)

The precise sequence of the ship's final abandonment and burning rests on secondhand historical accounts rather than an eyewitness log, and the exact publish-quality coordinates of the site are withheld by Dominican heritage authorities.

Indiana University Center for Underwater Science
Discovery, identification, site description, protection status
Society for Historical Archaeology / tDAR (Hanselmann & Beeker, 2016)
Archaeological identification methodology
ScienceDaily (Indiana University release)
Discovery date and depth