Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship

This was brilliant. I often like to read a true story and what a true story this is! It's not only the story of Joseph Bannister, but the story of the men who were looking for his ship, The Golden Fleece - John Chatterton and John Mattera. Giving such an insight into the background of the two Johns meant that I could empathise with them and understand their frustrations at times. In fact the early years of John Mattera was almost like reading about an episode of the Sopranos! John Chatterton on the other hand flirted with danger and showed no fear diving to places where others would not contemplate on going. I'm not sure what is more scary - the threat of the mob or the danger of the bends.

I was really interested in the process of show more hunting for a wreck - I had no idea that you had to have a lease to search the waters. In this case, the lease belonged to the renowned treasure hunter, Tracy Bowden, who gave the Johns instructions on where to look for the Golden Fleece. The story gets really interesting when the Johns become frustrated with their futile search in one area and try to persuade Tracy to search elsewhere. I thought it was going to come to blows on more than one occasion!

Mattera's interest in history meant that he cleverly used historical records to try to get into the mind of Joseph Bannister that ultimately led to the discovery of the Golden Fleece. This is where the events of 1686 and the 17th Century are described in such vivid details for us. Why men, and sometimes women, became pirates and what the could expect of life on the high seas. There was a heart stopping moment beforehand when somebody claims to have found the Golden Fleece and I let out an audible "Oh No!!" - this isn't a spoiler, history tells us that Chatterton and Mattera found the Golden Fleece but I was so engrossed in the story that I felt their disappointment and incredulity with them!

The book touches on the German U-boat that John Chatterton discovered off the coast of New Jersey and I'll certainly be adding Robert Kurson's Shadow Divers to my reading list.

This is a must read book for anybody wanting to learn more about the real Pirates of the Caribbean. It really does read like a fast paced thriller and I sometimes forgot I was reading a true story. A real swashbuckler of a read that has piqued my interest in underwater salvage.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less

"Treasure shows you who you really are.
It strips away every façade you’ve constructed, every story you believe about yourself, and reveals the real you.
If you are a miserable, lying, greedy, worthless fuck, Treasure will tell you that.
If you are a good and decent person, Treasure will tell you that, too.
And you needn’t find a single coin to know.
It’s enough to get close to Treasure, to believe it within reach, and you’ll have your answer.
But once it happens, it can’t be lied about, and it can’t be bullshitted away. For that reason, Treasure is crisis: because what you get, in the end, is yourself."

This is the story of sunken treasure, the pirate who lost it, and the men who sought it. All three men -the pirate Joseph show more Bannister, and the divers, John Chatterton & John Mattera - are worthy of biographies of their own. To see them converge over time and distance is a thing of beauty. It's as if Bannister's ghost was waiting for the right men to tell his tale and uncover his secrets. Buried in only 24 feet of water, the Golden Fleece sat for over 300 years, after battling two Royal Navy frigates in an effort for Bannister to evade capture and execution.

This story is riddled with men who couldn't resist the call of the sea, the call of adventure, the call of destiny. Spend some time with them this summer, sharing their triumphs. You'll feel like you're at an island bar, late into the night, drinking too much rum with dangerous strangers. And you'll love every second of it. show less

I am convinced that if Joseph Bannister was alive today and read Pirate Hunters he would be truly impressed. Impressed with the quest John Chatterton and John Mattera embarked upon to find the Golden Fleece; impressed with the dogged determination of both men to unravel how the Golden Fleece reached its final resting place; and, most importantly, impressed with how much Chatterton and Mattera truly understood about his motivation and determination to live life. I found Pirate Hunters a very interesting and enjoyable read. Robert Kurson adeptly weaves a number of interrelated storylines into one and in the process provides historical background on The Golden Age of Piracy, the backgrounds and motivations of the major players, i.e., show more Bannister, Chatterton, Mattera and Bowden, as well as an in-depth recounting of the final days of the Golden Fleece. I was probably most impressed with what we learn about the man Joseph Bannister and how that understanding led the salvagers to their final goal. A great read from start to finish that not only entertains but educates. It's almost uncanny how closely Mattera, Chatterton and Bannister's lives are all driven by the attitude of living life today because know one knows what tomorrow will bring. And, yes, I totally agree with Mattera's final observation that Joseph Bannister escaped hanging by the English and that it's never too late to follow one's heart ... for that's the code of a true pirate and those who chase down his legacy centuries later. show less

True story of the search for the pirate ship Golden Fleece near shores of current-day Dominican Republic. In 1684, Captain Joseph Bannister abandoned his career as an English merchant captain, stole the ship, and became a pirate. The Royal Navy tracked him down and sank his ship in 1686. In 2008, celebrated wreck-divers John Chatterton and John Mattera teamed up with treasure hunter Tracy Bowden to search for the ship and recover its cargo.

I particularly enjoyed the history of the era and the manner in which the salvors searched for Bannister by doing extensive research, analyzing his thought processes, and putting puzzle pieces together to figure out the logical location of the vessel. As with many books about pirates, I was not show more overly fond of the glorification of the pirate life. They were thieves, murderers, torturers and, basically, not individuals to be admired. However, the search for the ship is fascinating. It involves research, technology, skill, patience, legalities, and capital. Kurson intersperses biographical information about the men who found the ship with the search effort and the historical records. The current story is told in a dramatic manner, relying heavily on the memories of Chatterton and Mattera.

Books of this type, an opportunity to solve a centuries-old mystery, are almost irresistible for me. I listened to the audio book, competently read by Ray Porter. It would probably be better to read a copy that contains maps and photos. show less

“If you like pirates, meet me in New Jersey”.

With that, Kurson is off to meet John Chatterton and John Mattera, world class divers and treasure hunters, who are chasing the ghost of Joseph Bannister, one of the legendary (but real) pirates of the Caribbean, and his ship the Golden Fleece. Only one documented pirate ship has ever been found – the Whydah, off the coast of Cape Cod.

Kurson does a great job not just of telling the tale of the search for the Golden Fleece, but of taking you inside the world of treasure hunters and paying homage to the grand old men of the industry. Tracy Bowden owns the lease rights for treasure hunting in the Dominican Republic (or Hispaniola as the pirates knew it). He’s got a lead on the shipwreck show more site, but is too old to chase it, and Chatterton & Mattera are masters of the new technology-driven world of ship finding. He brings in Chatterton and Mattera to go after it. On their first visit to his house, Chatterton takes a break to go to the bathroom. Upon walking into the bathroom he finds a bathtub full of “pieces of eight”, spanish silver coins. The bathtub has about 5 million dollars worth of treasure in it. Throughout the hunt for the Golden Fleece, the partners visit other legendary treasure hunters to seek advice or information, some humble men worth millions and others flashy.

Chatterton and Mattera are just about to launch on a search for the San Bartolomé, after years of prep. But the lure of finding a true pirate ship is too strong. They abandon their quest for the San Bartolomé and they’re off to the Dominican in search of the Golden Fleece.

Kurson does an admirable of job of weaving the history of pirates into the book, including interesting diversions such as how limbs were amputated after battle (turns out in that era, being in the Navy was probably the best place to have an amputation done as they were the best at it). And he visits many historical sites such as the museum in Key West were one of only two remaining original Jolly Roger flags is kept.

He also explores the details and dangers of deep sea diving and treasure hunting. Chatterton and Mattera are both larger-than-life figures. Chatterton is a long time diver, TV host, Vietnam war medic, and treasure hunter, while Mattera grew up rough-and-tumble, dancing on the edge of organized crime in New Jersey (he knew many top figures in the Gambino crime family, but escaped the life to become first a policeman, then a celebrity bodyguard, and then a commercial diver). Kurston brings them and their story to life in a way that would make a great movie. There’s the exciting bits, the ambush in the Dominican where gunfire is exchanged, and the quiet parts, talking to old fishermen and doing research reading ship’s logs and newspaper articles in an off-the-beaten path library in Seville, Spain – a real life Da Vinci code scene. Pirate Hunters has so many twists, turns, false starts and crazy discoveries, it would make an amazing work of fiction or movie, yet it’s all true.

At the heart of their attempt to find the shipwreck is the mystery of Joseph Bannister – a career captain and pilot, highly successful and trusted. But one day, he “went pirate”. History is silent on why such a highly respected, successful captain would do such a thing. If you think it sounds like an episode of Black Sails, you’re not far wrong. Mattera ultimately develops a theory for what happened to Bannister, and, without giving anything away, this theory ultimately becomes a major turning point in their quest.

Pirate Hunters is a fantastic book. I read it in one sitting and I’m not sure I took a break. It’s about pirates and history and the thrill of the chase, but ultimately it’s about chasing your dreams and not settling for the easy way in life. Chatterton and Mattera almost give up more than once, and could easily be doing other things for less effort and more money, but they nearly sacrifice everything in their quest.

(ps: I love a book that points you to other great books. Pirate Hunters is a winner here too: Kurson points me to The Buccaneers of America, an amazing first-person contemporary account of Pirates. You can get the book for free online. The Library of Congress has also made an extremely interesting online version of the original book in Dutch with wonderful illustrations. It’s too cool, check it out: http://www.loc.gov/flash/pagebypage/buccaneers/)

(I received a copy of Pirate Hunters through LibraryThing’s wonderful Early Reviewers program, in exchange for a review. ) show less

“Everyone's been looking for a pirate ship. But this isn't about finding a ship. It is about finding a man.”

The search for The Golden Fleece. Finding a sunken pirate ship is a very rare occurrence and has only happened once before. Veteran treasure hunters, John Chatterton and John Mattera are sent on a mission, to the Dominican Republic, to do just that. Armed with high-tech tracking equipment and years of experience, they begin to hunt. They did not expect it to be easy and it quickly became worse than they could imagine. The team decides to focus on the man, who led the pirate ship, digging into thousands of hidden documents, to find a clue.

Joseph Bannister was a British sea captain, in the late 17th century. He went rogue and show more turned pirate. He became one of the most dangerous buccaneers in the Caribbean. His ship was The Golden Fleece and it was reportedly sunk, in shallow water, by the British Navy.

This is an exciting account of a true-life treasure hunt. It is filled with adventure and suspense and plenty of historical lore, plus Chatterton and Mattera are fascinating figures. Tough, scrappy and complicated.

I adore narrative nonfiction and this is a perfect example. This was also a riveting audiobook. show less

A swashbuckling tale of modern day thrill seekers on the hunt for one of the rarest of all shipwrecks, a pirate ship. Kurson tells the tales of John Chatterton and John Mattera's search for the wreck of the Golden Fleece, a pirate ship captained by a former upstanding, English, Merchant Captain, who turned pirate, stole his ship, plundered about the Caribbean, eventually taking on two Royal Navy ships in an epic battle. The tale of these two wreck divers reads much like a modern day pirate tale, filled with the characters who make up the world of treasure hunting. These are men (and a few women) who have nerves of steel and take risks few are willing to do, with great reward and great losses. Pirate Hunters is about the men and the show more search with a good bit of history woven through to provide background. I thought this would be a casually interesting read (as I'm interested in the topic, but generally enjoy lighthearted fiction and cozy mysteries), and instead, found myself neglecting my real life to keep diving into Pirate Hunters. show less