Posted on 05/18/2015 6:26:51 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Shipwreck Could Hold Thousands of Litres of Rum
• Sunken British warship the Lord Clive could hold “treasure worth millions”, including “vast stocks” of 250-year-old rum which will be recovered later this year.
The wreck, which sunk off the coast of Uruguay, was discovered in 2004, but the Uruguyan government has only given permission for its recovery this year.
Salvage of the ship, which was sunk by Spanish cannons in 1763, will require cranes, excavators and around 80 workers and is expected to begin within two months.
The ship, which was constructed in Hull for the Royal Navy and was previously named HMS Kingston, was bought in 1762 by the East India Company for use in a military campaign in Spain, but sunk during its crusade.
After peace was declared, Spanish mariners left the area, but not before destroying the city wall and dumping the rocks on the vessel so it could not re-float.
Veteran Argentinian explorer Rubén Collado found the ship, and is now raising funds for the recovery.
The contents of the ship are unknown, as is whether the wreckage has been looted, but Collado believes it will still contain the gold coins, thousands of litres of rum, 64 bronze cannons and booty the crew had earlier seized from another ship.
When asked to value the contents of the ship, Collado told The Guardian: “You can’t really make a valuation. The canons should be US $64m altogether. The coins are worth US $5,000 to US $6,000 each and there are 100,000 of them, so just do the math.”
Arrrh! Bacardi 151 for me because Rum needs to burn like gasoline for me to like it. I only like it straight up.
But after sitting on the bottom of the ocean for a couple hundred years, wouldn’t the casks have been eaten by sea creatures? Wouldn’t the rum be, at the very least, heavily contaminated with seawater?
Or are we talking well-sealed bottles?
Excellent!
Is this yours? What inspiration, pray tell?
It is intriguing that a private company went to war against Spain in South American.
100,000 “rare” coins. Hope they weigh 4 ounces each for those valuations.
It’s not a warship. When she was sold to the East India Company, it ceased to be a commissioned warship and became a merchant ship. This is a critical point in respect to the salvage rights and sovereignty ownership.
The rum would have certainly been in barrels, not bottles, and therefore is likely long gone. The ship has great historical value and may have some value if it has coinage or bullion on their manifest.
He said ‘booty’. Heh heh heh ha ha har har yar yarrrrrrr!
They will find no rum, but they will find sodomy sand the lash........
If this came for Georgetown Guyana it will be the best British Naval ever produced. If you still want the best rum, make by the same process used over 150 years ago, then get some rum from Guyana - you will be pleased.
You know the one about the woman who went out on a fishing boat with 15 guys? She came back with a red snapper.
“Tight Little Island”, I believe.
That is outstanding! The imagery in those lyrics is pure pirate’s gold.
Better than Barbados’ Mount Gay Rum established in 1703 ye say?
Nicely aged by now?
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