Wreck of renowned British warship found in Channel

Associated Press ^ | February 01, 2009 | MITCH STACY,

[george76]

Florida deep-sea explorers who found $500 million in sunken treasure two years ago say they have discovered another prized shipwreck: A legendary British man-of-war that sank in the English Channel 264 years ago.

Odyssey Marine Exploration hasn't found any gold this time, but it's looking for an even bigger jackpot. The company's research indicates the HMS Victory was carrying 4 tons of gold coins that could be worth considerably more than the treasure that Odyssey raised from a sunken Spanish galleon in 2007, co-founder Greg Stemm said ahead of a news conference set for Monday in London.

So far, Odyssey has recovered two brass cannons from the wreck of the Victory and continues to examine and map the debris field, which lies about 330 feet beneath the surface, Stemm said. The company said it is negotiating with the British government over collaborating on the project.

"This is a big one, just because of the history," Stemm said. "Very rarely do you solve an age-old mystery like this."

[george76]

The ship was the largest and, with 110 brass cannons, the most heavily armed vessel of its day.

It was the inspiration for the HMS Victory famously commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson decades later.

[rabidralph]

Cool, I love stories about sunken treasure and salvage.

[george76]

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Whatever they do, hopefully the won’t invite Whorealdo to help.

[padre35]

It is amazing how clear that water is, especially when it is a relatively shallow depth.

[Robert A Cook PE]

I was wondering if Horatio’s hip was named in honor of this earlier one.

Story doesn’t say why it sunk though - nor why that much gold coins was aboard. Homebound or outboard?

[centurion316]

The cannon are actually bronze, brass cannon of this size were not used by the Royal Navy.

As a Royal Naval vessel, the UK can claim soverign immunity from arrest as salvage. That immunity would probably even apply to the reported commercial cargo, gold coin owned by Portuguese merchants. However, Odyssey Marine, the salvors already have an agreement in place with the UK to salvage an earlier shipwreck, HMS Sussex, and therefore probably have reached a similar agreement with the UK on this wreck.

Using government vessels to carry commercial cargo was not uncommon in this period, especially precious metals and jewels. Shipping in a warship was considerably safer than using commercial shipping, and the Captain was entitled to freight - payment for carrying the cargo. Many Captains were only to happy to agree to the shipments.

900 sailors were aboard when Victory went down, so there will undoubtedly be controversy over the disturbance of a war grave. However, hundreds were also lost when the Mary Rose capsized in the Solent. This did not deter the efforts to raise her, and remains were found when the vessel was excavated. I would expect that Victory is much less likely to contain remains - a deep sea shipwreck would have much less sediment that might preserve any organic material.

[mass55th]

Discovery Channel is showing Treasure Quest on Wednesday nights. It features the Odyssey team and their search for this ship. They’ve been calling the ship The Legacy in the program, until they were sure they had actually verified the ship’s identification.

[mass55th]

See my reply at #9.

[centurion316]

I was wondering if Horatio’s hip was named in honor of this earlier one.p The Admiralty had a long standing practice of using one ship name for a succession of ships. In this case, it waited a considerable time before doing so. This Victory was lost in 1744 and Nelson's Victory was launched in 1765. Victory was lost in a storm whilst homeward bound with a squadron from Portugal. She was reportedly carrying coin from merchants who wanted a safe passage from Portugal to England. The rest of the squadron survived the storm and it was assumed that Victory had be cast upon rocks on the lee shore off France. Finding the vessel in deep water means that she foundered, probably was set on her beam ends by a large wave.

[Military family member]

"The ship was the largest and, with 110 brass cannons, the most heavily armed vessel of its day."

Cannons were never cast from Brass which simply too weak an alloy to sustain the pressures needed for a cannon. They were cast from Bronze, much like large statues;however, they were polished to a near mirror finish, which resembled brass, hence the name.

[george76]

It was the inspiration for the HMS Victory famously commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson decades later.

[george76]

The HMS Victory was returning from Lisbon, Portugal, and was probably transporting 100,000 gold Portuguese coins for merchants... The ship had sailed there to help rescue a Mediterranean convoy blockaded by the French in the River Tagus at Lisbon.

[NonValueAdded]

1744 ping

[Verginius Rufus]

War of Jenkins' Ear ping.

How many of those Portuguese merchants died 11 years later in the Lisbon earthquake?

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for the ping, NVA, and great post, George76! I look forward to more great finds from this salvage company...

[rabidralph]

Thanks, for the heads-up.

[SunkenCiv]

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[sinsofsolarempirefan]

Am I the only one who thinks this is akin to grave robbery? Is the only thing protecting the wrecks of say, the Hood and the Arizona from similar treatment the mere factor of time elapsed?
Perhaps when the two world wars have gone beyond living memory, we can dig up all those war cemeteries and rip out the gold teeth from the skulls of the glorious dead.... Cher CHING!!! $$$$