US Court: Shipwreck Found off Florida Belongs to France

eyemustdigtreasure

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Oddjob

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Thats such wonderful news; maybe if the French get lucky they can file a law suit and win to force that company to recover it all, preserve and restore but also deliver it. Or even better, since it happened in a US Federal court, why not just screw US tax payers and make them pay for everything.

Someone needs to call Trump and let him know that a US court just gave a site over to a NATO negligent spender; French had enough to hire a lawyer but still can not get their Defense spending in order. Yeah makes sense and sounds about right for them.

Really thought all the hand outs where going to stop, but clearly this one slipped right by.
 

Slowtaknow

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I hate to repeat myself but yelling look what i found is the stupidest thing to do when you find something that big.
 

Oddjob

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I hate to repeat myself but yelling look what i found is the stupidest thing to do when you find something that big.

Yeah, no kidding.
 

huntsman53

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I hate to repeat myself but yelling look what i found is the stupidest thing to do when you find something that big.

Yep, then sell it to an unscrupulous Black Marketeer with the condition that he or she sells it to France at one hundred million times what they paid you for it. Screw France, they deserve it!:laughing7:
 

Blak bart

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We should charge them a wet storage fee of 2000 a month for what,........ 450 years give or take !! Thats 5400 months or 10,800,000$ !! What else can we tack on there ?? Illegal dumping, environmental impact fee, littering, etc etc. At least another 10million in fines, fees, and taxes !! Dont forget late fees of 10% for every month. This could get exspensive for france !! Or they could just reimburse GME for there efforts. Almost as dumb an idea as letting a country come and claim something they abandoned here 450 years ago after someone else found it.
 

ivan salis

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uh we can not charge the French for"wreck storage "since the wreck occurred in 1565 way before the USA even existed ( 1776--so 211 years before we were a country folks) ---however when America bought Florida from Spain in 1821 * all of Florida's territorial waters and anything embedded in it became American property … including any shipwrecks ...however a later law exempted any and all military shipwrecks as "war graves" not able to be claimed by other nations for salvage ...France is claiming since it was on a military mission to attack the Spanish at St Augustine that its a "military grave wreck site"
 

huntsman53

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uh we can not charge the French for"wreck storage "since the wreck occurred in 1565 way before the USA even existed ( 1776--so 211 years before we were a country folks) ---however when America bought Florida from Spain in 1821 * all of Florida's territorial waters and anything embedded in it became American property … including any shipwrecks ...however a later law exempted any and all military shipwrecks as "war graves" not able to be claimed by other nations for salvage ...France is claiming since it was on a military mission to attack the Spanish at St Augustine that its a "military grave wreck site"

I could be wrong but by all of the accounts I have read, Ribault and his' fleet were on a relief mission not a military mission, so France's claims hold no water (Ref. https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/14lostfleet/background/history-pt2/history-pt2.html). They only engaged the Spanish after Menéndez’ fleet showed up off the river May and engaged them. The battle for Ribault's fleet was at first a defense then offense but the La Trinité became stranded on a sandbar during a Nor'easter or a hurricane and eventually was destroyed by the strong surf while the other three ships that had engaged the Spanish were sunk by the storm and none were engaged in battle at the time.
 

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Vox veritas

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The events of 1998-2002 are repeated again with Sea Hunt Inc. and Spanish military frigates JUNO and GALGA
 

GopherDaGold

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I got a great deal on a barely used French military rifle. Only dropped once :laughing9:
 

RTR

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Harvest

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If you find anything keep your big mouth shut Words of wisdom
 

ivan salis

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France's claim was that the vessels "mission" changed from colony resupply to a military mission when the Spanish showed up to attack the fort …..when they left the fort to go attack the Spanish in St Augustine they clearly were on a military mission … which sadly for the shipwreck finders is easily understood ...while they did not sink due to battle with the Spanish they were on the mission to attack the Spanish at the time -- thus its clear that they were on a military mission at the time of sinking ...which under the "sunken military craft act" makes it a war grave ….yes it sucks for the finders

one does not have to sink due to enemy action (a battle) to be thought of as being sunk while on a military mission....the Spanish armada is a fine exsample of vessels on a military mission to attack England that sank at sea due to bad weather ( these too would be thought of as "military war graves")

had the French colony resupply vessels sank while enroute to fort caroline before Spanish contact was made then the finders could say --it was NOT acting as a warship but merely as a resupply vessel and may have won their case but history says they made it to the fort and then left to attack the spanish
 

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ivan salis

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it is my view that in todays American govt / state of Florida back stabbing type world that the only viable way one can only successfully find and recover treasure is by being outside their legal permitting grasp ...3 miles for state of florida (east coast) and say 12 for US territorial waters -- so don't look any closer than 12 miles offshore to avoid any US / florida state legal entanglements....once in "international waters"{ pre 1750 Spanish wrecks are fair game due to spain waving wrecks pre 1750 for claiming to win the JUNO and LA GAGLA case }

so to be able to actually recover and keep the treasure off a shipwreck --it has to be the right type of wreck ...in the right place ..past the 12 mile limit ) thus no us federal govt or state of Florida permitting needed ///second if Spanish --needs to be pre 1750 * ---or better yet a American vessel ( so the only real persons you might have to legally fight would be insurance companies or heirs of the original owners of the items found )--so proper research is the key to actually keeping the treasure ...to find "the right wrecks" not just any wreck---no use in hunting and finding a wreck you can't keep and just have to hand over to others at great fiscal loss---this is where a "researcher" is well worth the 10 % gross cut of the finds you pay him ---no finds = no pay===
 

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huntsman53

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It would be nice if one could rig a large drag line and bucket and pull all significant non-warship designated shipwrecks and their' cargo out to beyond the 12 mile limit, then salvage the cargo and other valuable items.:dontknow::thumbsup::laughing7:
 

Togreenfeet

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Hey Black BART.......... I am related to Black Bart!!!!!!! SHO nuff!!!!!
Who knows you might be my long lost sisters, brothers, uncles, cousins. Nieces....... friend! Hahaha
 

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