HMS Victory to be recovered from sea bed 300 years after she sank carrying treasure 'worth £500m'

• Remains of first HMS Victory to be raised from the sea


• 1,000 soldiers died when the ship went down in a storm in 1744


• £500 million of gold could be on the vessel
  

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:31 PM on 22nd January 2012

The remains of the first HMS Victory are to be raised from the sea bed nearly 300 years after it sank.

The vessel, predecessor of Nelson's famous flagship, went down in a storm off the Channel Islands in 1744, taking more than 1,000 soldiers to their deaths.

Along with a bronze cannon collection, some believe the ship was carrying a large quantity of gold coins from Lisbon to Britain, which would now be worth a reported £500 million.

The original HMS Victory (as illustrated left) is due to be raised sea. It was the predecessor to the famous ship captained by Admiral Nelson (pictured right)

The wreck is to be handed over to the Maritime Heritage Foundation, which is expected to employ Odyssey Marine Exploration to carry out the recovery.

FROM PORTSMOUTH TO SEABED: FINAL VOYAGE OF HMS VICTORY

July 1744 - Fleet leaves Portsmouth

Late Aug - Breaks French blockade

Sep 28 - Fleet leaves for England

Oct 3 - Storm strikes in the Bay of Biscay

Oct 4 - Last sighting of Victory

The American company found the ship four years ago.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: 'Efforts to protect key parts of British Naval history such as the wreck of HMS Victory 1744 are very welcome and we hope to make an announcement shortly.'

The guns and other artefacts will be displayed in British museums, while Odyssey is likely to receive the bulk of any treasure under the laws of salvage, the newspaper reported.

The Maritime Heritage Foundation was set up by Lord Lingfield, the Tory peer formerly known as Sir Robert Balchin.

He is a relative of Admiral Sir John Balchin who was on board the Victory when it sank, although he stressed he would not profit personally from the ship's cargo.

Lord Lingfield told the Sunday Times: 'The foundation seeks to prevent damage to this historically important site and maximise its archaeological, scientific and educational value.

'We hope it will give a unique insight into the world of the mid-18th century Royal Navy.'

Zeus: an eight-ton submersible which could be used in the operation

Discovery: Two out of more than 100 bronze cannon have been salvaged so far

The ship's location remained a mystery despite numerous searches, until Odyssey discovered the wreck in May 2008.

The Florida-based firm found the site 330ft under the English Channel, nearly 65 miles from where the ship was historically believed to have been wrecked, near the Channel Islands.

The Dutch financial publication Amsterdamsche Courant reported on November 18 1744, a month after the ship sank: 'People will have it that on board of The Victory was a sum of 400,000 pounds sterling that it had brought from Lisbon for our merchants.'

It was also thought that large quantities of silver and gold coins would have been on board The Victory from enemy prize ships captured by Balchin, worth 120,000 pounds sterling at the time.

Source : dailymail

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