Merchant Royal

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/19/nwreck19.xml

For anyone interested in treasure hunting, this may be the richest treasure find in history. Althought code named the "Black Swan" many think that this is the discovery of the Merchant Royal. Initial reports indicates that Odyessy Marine Exploration (AMEX OMR) has recovered 500,000 silver coins (17 tons worth!!!) from a 17th Century Merchant Ship which sank in the Atlantic off of Lands End.

Copyright 2003, Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., Used By Permission.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/world/story/115815.html

Odyssey Marine has run into anticipated problems with regards to it's recent discovery of a 17th Century merchant ship. Spain, in whose waters Odyssey Marine has said lies the shipwreck of the HMS Sussex, is suspicious that Odyssey Marine recent horde of treasure was the result of the looting of the Sussex site. "We can confirm that the Black Swan is not HMS Sussex and that the Black Swan was not found in waters anywhere near the shipwreck believed to be HMS Sussex," Odyssey said in a statement.

There are experts who believe the Black Swan shipwreck is the remains of the Merchant Royal.

Richard Larn, a veteran British diver and shipwreck expert, says he knows the ship's identity and it's certainly not the Sussex.

"It's the Merchant Royal," Larn said in an interview from the Isles of Scilly, off the southwest coast of England. Larn said that Odyssey Marine has discovered the Merchant Royal at a site approximately 22 miles southeast of the Scilly Isles. The ship went down in 1641 with a hold full of Spanish coins destined to pay its soldiers at war in Flanders.

Odyssey Marine has commented several times that the wreck was not the Sussex. It would be foolish for a public company to make such a statement and not be true. The Sussex site was recorded as required by the UK and any disturbance to the site would be easily discovered.

The Sussex project was given the go ahead by the UK and Odyssey was waiting for the Spanish authorities to assign archaeologists to monitor the operation.

Rounding out the trifecta of shipwrecks is the Merchant Royal, probably the richest one of them all.
Odyssey Marine filed their complaint against the Merchant Royal on Sept. 13, 2006.
I thought I would re post some of what was said about the Merchant Royal in May.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Royal

The 700-ton Merchant Royal was built in Deptford, London, in 1627.

Owned by English merchants, she set sail from the Spanish colonies of San Domingo, in the West Indies, captained by John Limbrey.

In January 1637, armed with 32 bronze canons, she arrived successfully in Cadiz, southern Spain, where she rested until 1640.

But during that time she began to leak badly and underwent extensive repairs.
The following summer, a ship employed to transport Spain's colonial loot - silver coins, ingots and gold - caught fire.

The bullion had been put aside to pay for Spain's 30,000 strong army, which were stationed at the time in Flanders.

Captain Limbrey volunteered to take the gold to Antwerp, on his way back to London. The Merchant Royal set sail in late August 1641, trailed by her sister ship, the Dover Merchant. But during the journey she began to leak and rescuers were unable reach her in time.

Eighteen men drowned and 40 crew, including Capt Limbrey, had to be rescued by the Dover Merchant.

The loss of the treasure made headlines. Back in 1641, the ship’s hold was equivalent to one-third of the national exchequer. Samuel Pepys refers to the event in his diary and proceedings in the House of Commons were interrupted for the news to be announced.

Several salvage teams have sought to recover her treasure over the years but all have failed until now.

There was confusion as to where she had actually gone down, with conflicting eyewitness reports. Original papers relating to her final resting place state that witnesses on another ship calculated that it sank ten leagues (around 35 miles) from Land's End. But experts insist they would have been too far out to actually see land.

According to a 17th century pamphlet from the British Museum there are survivors' accounts of the disaster and the attempts of seamen to save a treasure chest containing "300,000 pound in ready bullion and 100,000 pound in gold".

There are also reports that the vast personal wealth of the Captain, John Limbrey, went down with the ship as well. Some say that his wealth included 100,000 gemstones.