Robert Maynard led the Royal Navy expedition that killed Blackbeard at Ocracoke Island in 1718.
Maynard was a lieutenant serving aboard HMS Pearl when Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood ordered an expedition against Blackbeard. Maynard commanded two lightly armed sloops, Ranger and Jane, rather than a large warship.
On 22 November 1718, Maynard engaged Blackbeard’s crew near Ocracoke. He concealed many of his sailors below deck, then brought them out after Blackbeard’s men boarded his vessel. The close fighting ended with Blackbeard’s death.
Maynard is sometimes confused with Spotswood, who authorized the mission but did not take part in the battle. Maynard’s victory helped establish the episode as one of the best-known final battles of the Golden Age of Piracy.