HMS Victory and Gold: The Full (ish) Story

For those with cable or satellite, Treasure Quest on the Discovery Channel gave a glimpse into the search for the HMS Victory lost 265 years ago in the English Channel. But like most shows of it's ilk it was all about glamorous shots and high drama as the Odyssey crew tried to avoid giving the game away to rivals that they had found a possible fortune beneath the waves.



For a better insight into the ship, it's discovery and identification, check out the 46-page Preliminary Survey and Identification on the company's website.

In a (fairly largish) nutshell then;
HMS Victory was classed as a first-rate man-of-war (one of the most impressive warships of it's era) that was brimming with cannons. It vanished in a storm in October 1744 and was thought sank at Casquets, near Aldernay under the captaincy of Admiral Sir John Balchin, taking more than 1,000 sailors to their deaths.
The ship was homeward bound after multi-pronged mission when she was caught in the violent storm. She had helped escort a convoy of vessels heading to America and also to the Med to provide victuals to the allies fighting the War of Austrian Succession. Admiral Balchin was also to liberate a convoy trapped by the French and clear the channel of privateers.
And then she was lost. fast forward 265 years and a team of marine explorers make an amazing breakthrough.

Odyssey Marine Exploration was conducting its Atlas Shipwreck Survey Project when the sidescan sonar pinged a wreck in May last year.
The area, which became known as Site 25C (covering 61x22 metres) was characterised by the discovery of bronze canons, 41 in all exposed on the seabed.

Plan of site 25C

The explorers noted the canons were dragged 90 degrees off their axis of the shipwreck and it became apparent that that which was exposed was being damaged by beam trawlers (it is thought most of the wreck is still hidden under the sands of the highly dynamic sea floor of shifting sand).

During the survey of 2,574sqm of the wreck site over 23 dives, the ROV found an anchor, copper kettle and gunners' wheels. But it was the bronze cannon that were the most important.

Of the 41 fully or partly exposed, at least eight bore the crest of King George I and one the crest of King George II. Some were between six and 24 pounders cannons but at least six were 42 pounders - the biggest guns of the day and saved for the mightiest of ships.

Two, codenamed C28 and C33 were raised to help with identification.

Cannons found and raised by Odyssey

The ship was ID'd in three ways. 1/ an examination of Royal Navy losses in the Channel with at least 41 guns. 2/ ID of ships that would have carried such armament with the crests of two Kings. 3/ A survey of first-rate Royal Navy warships lost throughout the world.

Each study led to "unavoidable conclusion" that it was the Victory.

So what about the loot?

Research shows that substantial quantities of merchants' gold were being carried on a regular basis from Lisbon to England on the larger Royal Navy ships during this period and it was reported at the time that the Victory had 400,000 Sterling on board (an estimated four tons of gold). It was also thought she was carrying valuable prizes from the ships she captured worth 120,000 pounds sterling at the time. It's current market value is estimated at a whopping ONE BILLION POUNDS. All this is thought to be buried beneath the underwater sand dunes which could hide more of the wreck.

For the full details (yes there is more) check out the 46 page report on Odyssey's website and the FAQs. It makes fascinating reading if you like marine archaeology and the solving of mysteries. And considering we spend a lot of out time on wrecks, it provides an in-depth view about what it takes to prove their identities.

HMS Victory Update

Further details of the discovery of the wreck of man-of-war HMS Victory have been released by deep sea explorers Odyssey Marine Explorers in a press release on their website.

Odyssey said it discovered the wreckage almost 100 km from where the ship was historically believed to have foundered on a reef near the Channel Islands.

Two bronze cannons, including a 12-pounder featuring the royal arms of George II and a 4 ton, 42-pounder bearing the crest of George I. The huge 42-pounder recovered is the only known example of a gun of this type and size currently in existence on dry land.


42-pound bronze cannon being recovered
from the HMS Victory shipwreck

During these operations, evidence was discovered of substantial damage to the site from natural deterioration, scouring, extensive fishing trawl net damage and the intrusion of modern trash and debris.

“Rather than staying frozen in time beneath the waves, this unique shipwreck is fading fast,” warns marine archaeologist Dr. Sean Kingsley, Director of Wreck Watch International.

“The Victory lies in an area of intensive trawling, and her hull and contents are being ploughed away by these bulldozers of the deep day in, day out.

"Leaving the Victory’s rich archaeology so vulnerable to the ravages of man is like allowing a motorway to smash straight through a historic site on land without excavating it.

"The archaeological recovery of the artifacts from the site should begin as soon as possible or the story of England’s most important lost man-of-war may not survive to be told.”

The discovery last Spring Odyssey’s work on the Victory site was filmed for Discovery Channel’s “Treasure Quest” were rolling. It will be shown in the UK on Sunday, February 8 at 9PM.

A-Z of Wrecks

Talking in the office today about the find of the HMS Victory got us started on an A-Z of wrecks that we have dived. It's a boy thing I know, but here goes:



A - ?
B -The Barg (Red Sea)
C -Countess of Erne (Portland), Carnatic (Red Sea)
D -Dunraven (Rea Sea)
E -?
F - ?
G -Ghiannis D (Red Sea)
H - ?
I - Inchcape (UAE)
J - James Egan Layne (Plymouth)
K - Kimon M (Red Sea)
L -Lesleen M (St Lucia)
M -Marcus (Red Sea), M2 (Plymouth)
N -?

O - ?

P - ?

Q - ?

R -Rosalie Moller (Red Sea)

S -Scylla (Plymouth), Stanegarth (Stoney Cove)

T -Thistlegorm (Red Sea)

U -?

V -Victory Wreck (Maldives)

W -?

X -?

Y -?

Z -Zenobia

Okay, so it's only 14. But I'm more than half way through the alphabet and at least I know what area of diving I need to focus on this year. Any recommendations for filling in the blanks?

HMS Victory wreck found

Interesting news breaking tonight of the Associated Press newswire. Deep-sea explorers have found the legendary British man-of-war HMS Victory that sank in the English Channel 264 years ago.

The wreckage of the HMS Victory, the forerunner to the ship made famous by Lord Nelson, has been found below about 330 feet of water by Odyssey Marine Exploration.

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

AP reported that two brass cannons had been recovered from the wreck of the ship which was the most heavily armed vessel of its day.


Photo released by Odyssey Marine Exploration
of a Bronze cannon on the shipwreck site of HMS
Victory bearing the royal crest of King George I

Thirty-one brass cannons and other evidence on the wreck allowed definitive identification of the HMS Victory, 175-foot sailing ship that was separated from its fleet and sank in the English Channel on Oct. 4, 1744, with at least 900 men aboard, the company said.


Photo released by Odyssey Marine Exploration.
The Odyssey Explorer's ROV measures a bore
hole of a 42-pound bronze cannon on the shipwreck
site of HMS Victory

Odyssey was searching for other valuable shipwrecks in the English Channel when it came across the Victory, although the exact location is being kept secret.

Full details are expected to emerge at a press conference in London on Monday morning.

Wreck Divers Plunder Greek Heritage

What happened to ‘take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but bubbles’?

It seems that some divers are prepared to ignore the old diving adage so that they can have a prized bit of ancient pottery on their mantelpiece.

According to the Guardian newspaper, modern day treasure hunters are looting the underwater heritage around the Greek islands since the lifting of a ban on coastal scuba-diving six years ago.

The Mediterranean sea, described by Paul Rose in his book 'Oceans', as the Cradle of Western Civilization, is one of the world’s most important seas when it comes to providing a window on our past.

On its banks it grew many of the great early civilisations and it was the Phoenicians who first developed the science of seafaring. Archaeologists believe it was the Mediterranean itself that allowed this rapid growth, as those intrepid enough plied the waves as both explorers and traders. Such communities became richer, culturally and economically.

As a result, archaeologists believe there are thousands of shipwrecks lying beneath the waves containing priceless treasures and evidence of man’s early life.

Unfortunately, it would appear that treasure hunters, encouraged by scuba-diving websites from America to Australia, are now plundering this archaeological and cultural heritage.

I don’t suppose it should come as a surprise, having read Shadow Divers and Deep Decent (Kevin F McMurray). Both recount tales of 'China Fever' among extreme divers pushing themselves to the limits as they scoured the wreck of the Andrea Doria for bits of crockery. Sadly some didn't live to have a plate or cup on their mantelpiece.

Surely us scuba divers have a responsibility to protect wrecks and archaeological discoveries in much the same way we delicately treat the coral reefs which provide much of our pleasure.

I can’t imagine many of us would stand by watching someone rip up a giant fan coral, so why should we sit back while others take amphoras, ingots and whatever other treasure they can lay their hands on?


Leave the recovery of artifacts to the experts

Maritime archaeologists from around the world regularly search around the Greek islands for ancient shipwrecks that they hope with shed another shaft of light onto our past. Perhaps we should leave the removal of artifacts to their expert hands.