Treasure Hunters Find Legendary Treasure HMS Victory

By Carsten Volkery in London

For 250 years, the powerful English warship HMS Victory was lost, the victim of a 1744 storm in the English Channel. Now, treasure hunters have located the wreck. Unique cannon have been recovered -- but four tons of gold may still lie hidden.





 

The ship was the pride of the Royal Navy. As big as a building, the three-masted triple-decker was 53 meters (173 feet) long and bristled with 100 cannon. But on Oct. 5, 1744, the HMS Victory sailed into a violent autumn storm in the English Channel on the way home from Gibraltar. Sir John Balchin, the Royal Navy\'s second-in-command captained the flagship.

Admiral Balchin had been serving the crown at sea for 58 years; he was an experienced hand. But the 2,000 ton HMS Victory never made it back to its home in Portsmouth. On that October day, the ship disappeared along with all 1,100 men on board -- and four tons of gold. At the time, it was the biggest warship in the world; and for England, its loss was a national tragedy. In memory of the accident and its victims, a marble sarcophagus was placed in Westminster Abbey.

The only remains from the HMS Victory were small bits of the wreck that washed up periodically on the shores of the Channel Islands. But for the last 250 years, the vessel\'s whereabouts have remained a mystery.

Until now.

In a secret operation over the course of many months, the US treasure-hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration has managed to locate the sunken ship 100 meters (328 feet) below the surface of the English Channel. Following 23 dives made between May and October, 2008, there is now \"no doubt\" that the wreck is indeed the HMS Victory, according to the 46-page report detailing the successful search. Company founder Greg Stemm officially confirmed the find in the Canary Wharf Four Seasons Hotel on Monday. \"From an archaeological and historical perspective,\" Stemm said, \"this is probably the most significant shipwreck find to date.\"

Read more of this amazing article at http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,605052,00.html

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