Robert Kurson. Pirate Hunters. Random, 2015.

Pirate Hunters contains an adventure within an adventure. We meet John Chatterton and John Mattera—along with a significant supporting cast—undersea salvors, or as we might say, treasure hunters. One of the original treasure hunters, corrects one of the Johns and says “treasure finders.” A lot of people hunt treasure, but who finds it?

Within their story is the story of the Golden Fleece, a British merchant vessel that became a pirate ship when its captain and crew decided to go on their own in 1684.

Chatterton and Mattera, though with varied backgrounds, became successful partners in locating and salvaging historical shipwrecks such as U-869, a German World War II submarine that was thought to be lost near Morocco but was discovered off the coast of New Jersey. Chatterton, an army medic in Vietnam, was one of the most agile and daring wreck divers, often swimming in tight spaces and waters deeper than most divers dare. Mattera, diver and former loan shark, was a meticulous researcher. They were thinking of searching an area in the Caribbean known for lost Spanish ships for a gold-laden galleon, when Chatterton got a phone call from Tracy Bowden.

Tracy Bowden was seventy at the time and one of the best known treasure finders. He had a proposal for them. He thought he knew where the Golden Fleece was. The Golden Fleece was a pirate ship captained by Joseph Bannister, at the time one of the more successful pirates. He had been a captain on British merchant vessels for many years, but for some reason around the age of forty, he decided to go rogue. He is the only known pirate leader to successfully thwart an attack of the Royal Navy by fighting back. While numerous vessels from the 17th and 18th centuries have been discovered, only one bona fide pirate ship from the so-called Golden Era of Piracy (1650-1720) had ever been discovered, the Whydah.

Kurson effectively narrates his story, leaving the reader in suspense. It is as if he were writing weekly episodes for a magazine serial, so one part will be on Chatterton up to a point, then on the men scouting the area in the Dominican Republic (DR), then some notes on undersea electronics, and then a little history of pirates in Port Royal, Jamaica. (English pirates like Bannister usually worked out of Port Royal).

There is a lot of tension, anyhow. The men are exploring a remote part of the DR where there a tendency to lawlessness. It is not merely a piece of background trivia that Mattera had been CEO of an international private security company: he knew how to handle a nighttime ambush on a country road and other attacks.

There is also a looming political deadline. UNESCO had established an international treaty that all shipwrecks belong to the nation in whose waters they are found. Independent salvors have no rights unless the government in the area wants to grant them. The DR has not signed the treaty yet, so treasure hunters are still able to claim salvage rights, but it looks like the DR will sign on shortly. If they make their discovery too late, all their expenses and work could end up being for nothing.

There are also other treasure hunters. Unfortunately, while there is a certain amount of mutual respect for successful treasure hunters, the business as a whole is fairly cutthroat. There are many claims and counter claims. Some hunters never get a dime from the work they have done because of specious legal wrangling. Also some are known to double cross people they have hired or partner with. Months into their search, they discover that at least two, possibly three, other outfits have begun searching the same general area. What if they find what Chatterton and Mattera have been looking for? What if they are heavily armed?

There are also personal problems. Each of the men involved have families and other affairs to be concerned about. Sometimes they have to leave for a week or two at a time to take care of business. Some wives are more understanding than others. Will they run out of time? Will they run out of options?

Ultimately, will they make their discovery?

Pirate Hunters gives great insight into the challenges of making historical undersea discoveries. It also gives us some additional insight into the lives and times of the Golden Age of Piracy, and why perhaps even a successful merchant sailor like Bannister might go rogue. It seems like each discovery uncovers another mystery.

N.B.: We have noted that different books we reviewed have given different dates for the Golden Age of Piracy. Kurson here dates it 1650-1720. The Pirates says 1690-1720. Pirates of the Treasure Coast says 1670-1720. Since piracy was illegal and “off the books,” different sources note different beginnings. All three give 1720 as the terminus, though at least one other source says 1725. By 1720 international treaties had been established, Spain and England had quit fighting, and the most notorious pirates were either dead or had just a few years to live. Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet died in 1718; Calico Jack, in 1720; Edward Vane, in 1721; Black Bart, in 1722.