Brass cannons clue to wreck of HMS Victory

[Adsos Letter]

Source: TimesOnline

DIVERS believe they have found the remains of one of the greatest British sailing ships ever wrecked at sea.

HMS Victory, forerunner of Nelson’s flagship of the same name, was lost in a storm near the Channel Islands in 1744 with her crew of about 1,150, including an admiral.

The ship has long been sought by salvagers because of its cargo of 100 brass cannons, thought to be engraved with dolphins and the monogram of George II.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said that Odyssey, a Florida-based archeology company, had reported the find. “Odyssey claim it is the Victory but we can’t confirm its identity until we have seen a full report,” he said.

The company is due to announce the find tomorrow at a press conference attended by a descendant of one of the crew.

Mike Williams, a law lecturer at Wolverhampton University and an expert on the legal status of wrecks, said he believed the find could be “the big one” because of the cannons.

“The advantage of brass is that it doesn’t rust,” he said. “Archeologists have recovered brass guns from the sea virtually undamaged, in comparison with iron guns which have been unrecognisable.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5627477.ece

[CTyankee]

1. This is very interesting. What relationship does this ship have with

Nelson's victory at Trafalgar against Napoleon?

[Adsos Letter]

2. All I know is that it was a forerunner to Nelson's ship...

as per the rest of the article:

"HMS Victory, forerunner of Nelson’s flagship of the same name, was lost in a storm near the Channel Islands in 1744 with her crew of about 1,150, including an admiral."

"The vessel was launched in 1737 at Portsmouth. Seven years later, Admiral Sir John Balchin was leading his fleet home from a mission in Portugal when a violent storm blew up. Victory, with Balchin on board, was last seen on October 4 and was wrecked off Alderney around rocks called the Casquets, a graveyard for sailing ships."

"“The ship was carrying the upper crust of Royal Navy society,” said Williams. “One of the families of the bereaved put up a reward of £5,000 for anyone who could find the wreckage. The offer still stands and has been gathering some interest.”"

[Confusious]

3. nothing

It was just the ship that had the same name before the HMS Victory ( Nelsons flagship ), which is docked in England and is a floating museum. Maybe they just want to know why a battleship of that size sunk in a storm. Most were lost to enemy action.

[CTyankee]

4. It is interesting. When I learned recently that Trafalgar was in a part of Spain that I was

interested in visiting, I contacted my Spanish tourist agent about a side trip there and he told me it was just a beach with sand and nothing to see. I thought that was a bit strange.

Now I have learned from you that the ship he was on at Trafalgar is a floating museum in England (London?). Wow. What a great thing to know...if I ever get back to England...oh my.

[whistler162]

6. Actually it is in Portsmouth Naval Yard.....

a pleasant train ride from London.

The yard contains numerous ship related exhibits including Henry the 8th's favorite ship the Mary Rose. Across the harbor is the submarine museum and down the road in Portsmouth is a D-Day musueum. Sorry to sound like a tour guide. But, I went there for a couple of days in 2001 before heading off to London for a while. I would love to get back there.

http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/

[CTyankee]

12. I love museums. Thank you for the heads up! The D Day museum is especially

fascinating to me.

[Adsos Letter]

10. here is a link to a youtube slideshow on Nelson's HMS. Victory...

just in case you are interested. There are other videos of her at the site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT3X5u8MbqY&feature=related

[Angleae]

11. Not floating, dry-docked. (Permanently)

[CTyankee]

13. fabualous ship! n/t

[NoPasaran]

15. It was pretty common to name naval battles

It was pretty common to name naval battles after a nearby coastal feature, in this case the Cape of Trafalgar.

[Angleae]

5. The spanish armada would disagree with you.

They lost more ships to weather than to the british.

[AndyTiedye]

7. If It Weren't for That Storm, We Might Be Writing This in Spanish

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

16. Es verdad!

[petronius]

8. I wonder if they mean "cargo" of cannons or the ship's own armament?

If this is true, I hope the wreck is very carefully excavated. It's a famous name and had a bunch of famous people, but I imagine a wreck of that magnitude could shed a lot of light on the conditions experienced by the ordinary officers and seamen...

[Adsos Letter]

9. Wikipedia describes her as a "100 gun first-rate ship of the line"...

so I imagine the cannon were part of her ordnance.

Here is a link to the wikipedia article, which is of some interest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victory_(1737)

[trusty elf]

14. I enjoy your archaeology posts.

Thanks Adsos Letter!

Do you know George F. Bass's "Archaeology Under Water"? Very interesting book.
It was published in 1966. I can imagine that the field has changed quite a bit since then
with the advent of robotic exploration and recovery.