Posted on 07/29/2012 2:13:05 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
To life, love and a legendary privateer’s lost fleet.
U.S. archaeologists are continuing their search for real-life buccaneer Captain Henry Morgan’s lost fleet after the discovery of six cannons, a 17th century wooden shipwreck and even a barrel that may very well contain rum.
Yo, ho ho indeed.
Aptly backed by the Captain Morgan rum brand, a team of leading archaeologists led by Frederick “Fritz” Hanselmann of Texas State University hope to unlock the myth and mysteries of one of history’s most iconic sea captains.
“We’re interested in telling the true story of Henry Morgan,” Hanselmann, who is a director of the Lost Ships of Henry Morgan Project, told FoxNews.com. “He was a real historic figure who played a significant role in the history of Panama and 17th century politics. Morgan was a legendary figure, even in his time. He pretty much ran amuck in the Spanish main, culminating in the sack of Panama City. He sacked a city no one thought could be sacked.”
En route to his most infamous plunder and what was then the richest city in the western hemisphere, Morgan lost five ships (including his flagship “Satisfaction”) at the mouth of the Chagres River, at the time the only waterway access to Panama City. It’s here that Hanselmann and his team began their search in 2010.
“One of the first things we noticed was a series of cannons on the reef where Morgan’s ships ran aground,” Hanselmann said, an indication that the team was on the right track. They are now trying to narrow the search for where the ships might be using a magnetometer -- a large metal detector towed by boat -- to pick up irons or metals buried in the sand, which has led to them to their first shipwreck ...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A 17th century cannon, found near the Lajas reef near Fort San Lorenzo, Colon. The cannons are in conservation at the Patronato Panama Viejo laboratory in Panama City, Panama. The cannon most likely belonged to Captain Henry Morgan's lost fleet of 1671. (Jonathan Kingston)
'We have one shipwreck that looks like it’s 17th century Spanish. It’s a really cool site.' - Frederick “Fritz” Hanselmann
More background about the discovery of the shipwreck here ...
TSU researcher discovers pirate shipwreck
http://www.kvue.com/news/TSU-researcher-discovers-pirate-shipwreck-126814238.html
That’s really what I’d call “aged rum”! :-d)
Ever read CUP OF GOLD by John Steinbeck? I read it many years ago and thought it was one of the worst novels Steinbeck had ever written.
I found a paperback copy retitled (I believe) “The pirate Morgan”. It was bad-d-d-d-d!
The stories of Rafiel Sabatini were far better.
GGG ping
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks Squawk 8888. More or less modern history, but I think a "Shiver Me Timbers" Ping is in order. This round's on me. |
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Cap’n an’ Coke ping...
I have to laugh at the romanticizing of these pirates. They were blood-curdling maniac terrorists. They slaughtered entire ships withut thinking about it, terrorized towns and entire regions, and lived lives that are more akin to gangs of meth addicts cutting loose with automatic weapons than anything even remotely civilized.
Think about having a Disney cartoon about the tender side of the Aurora killer 300 years from now, and you’ll get my drift, matey.
You don’t have to go 300 years, backwards or forwards.
Bought a Toyota lately? Drunk some German riesling? I know folks who’ve adopted from Vietnam, and raved about the tourist sites they saw while there.
And so it goes, and so it goes...
Funny, though not good, I thought “Cup of Gold” was the least-worst Steinbeck I ever read. I was forced to read “Grapes of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men” at school and hated both with a passion.
I just finished working on a geneology project for my father. Shoemakers, blacksmiths, clergy, farmers, lawyers, with one notable exception of a major religious figure. However, on their fathers side, my grandchildren have a Dutch pirate who settled in America. Who do you think they will celebrate? I don’t think it will be the clergyman - lol.
Morgan sailed under letters of marque issued by the Governor of Jamaica while England was at war with Spain. After the sack of Panama he was arrested and sent to England for trial, but they instead knighted him and sent him back to Jamaica as Lieutenant Governor. His case was different than, say, a Blackbeard.
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