Robert Maynard
Robert Maynard (c. 1684 – 4 January 1751) was a lieutenant and later captain in the Royal Navy and the First Lieutenant of HMS Pearl.
In November 1718, Maynard was hired by the Governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, to eliminate Edward Thatch, a notorious pirate also known as Blackbeard. Taking command of a few fast ships, Maynard sailed towards the shallow inlets where Thatch was known to hide. Learning that Thatch was anchored on Ocracoke Island, Maynard found the pirates' location but held off their attack, instead waiting on a signal from the British spies residing among the pirates.
Upon seeing a flare, Maynard's ships attacked the pirates, and Thatch and his friend Edward Kenway faced his attack aboard Thatch's flagship Queen Anne's Revenge. Thatch and Kenway boarded the HMS Pearl, though Thatch was overrun and eventually killed, while Kenway was pushed overboard.