Captain Morgans Cannons Found

[Salvor6]

Archaeologists have recovered six cannons from the ships of Welsh privateer Henry Morgan, the first artifacts found in Panama to be linked to the man who remains a legend there, the team said Monday.

In the late 1600s, Morgan sent three ships and a crew of 470 men to capture the Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real de Chagres, a fort that guarded the approach to Panama City, the capital. Morgan and his men were sailing up the Chagres River to join them when his flagship, the Satisfaction, and at least three other vessels crashed on Lajas Reef, sinking in shallow water.

Members of Morgan's force paddled upriver and walked overland to reach Panama City, which they successfully sacked. But their wrecked ships were abandoned and left to amateur archaeologists and looters.

"Every school kid learns about Morgan's activities, but we have never seen any of his materials," said archaeologist Tomas Mendizibal, a research associate at Patronato Panama Viejo, a government agency that is overseeing excavation of the original site of Panama City. "If these are indeed his cannons, it would be a first." Mendizibal was not involved in the discovery.

Morgan is generally thought of as a pirate, but he was commissioned as a privateer by the English crown to attack enemy vessels and protect the British colonies of Barbados and Jamaica because the Royal Navy was unable to do so. He became the scourge of the Spanish in the Caribbean and was eventually knighted and made governor of Jamaica.

Now if we could just find his rum!

 

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[LM]

That's pretty awesome.
My own line traces right back to Monmouthshire in the 17th c, which is when/where he came from. His early life isn't that well known but odds are, there's some sort of pretty close- potentially direct- relation in our strains. Before my bones are planted, I really, really want to dive one of his known wrecks.

 

[Alexandre]

How do they know it's their cannons?

 

[PyrateJim]

For a little more detail, from the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-morgans-guns-20110301,0,7862074.story

Henry Morgan's cannons found in Panama, archaeologists say
A team unearths six cannons under layers of sedimentary rock that it says are from the ships of the 17th century privateer.

Frederick Hanselmann prepares a canon for lifting off Lajas Reef in Panama. (Donnie Reid)
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times

March 1, 2011
Archaeologists have recovered six cannons from the ships of Welsh privateer Henry Morgan, the first artifacts found in Panama to be linked to the man who remains a legend there, the team said Monday.

In the late 1600s, Morgan sent three ships and a crew of 470 men to capture the Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real de Chagres, a fort that guarded the approach to Panama City, the capital. Morgan and his men were sailing up the Chagres River to join them when his flagship, the Satisfaction, and at least three other vessels crashed on Lajas Reef, sinking in shallow water.

Members of Morgan's force paddled upriver and walked overland to reach Panama City, which they successfully sacked. But their wrecked ships were abandoned and left to amateur archaeologists and looters.

"Every school kid learns about Morgan's activities, but we have never seen any of his materials," said archaeologist Tomas Mendizibal, a research associate at Patronato Panama Viejo, a government agency that is overseeing excavation of the original site of Panama City. "If these are indeed his cannons, it would be a first." Mendizibal was not involved in the discovery.

Morgan is generally thought of as a pirate, but he was commissioned as a privateer by the English crown to attack enemy vessels and protect the British colonies of Barbados and Jamaica because the Royal Navy was unable to do so. He became the scourge of the Spanish in the Caribbean and was eventually knighted and made governor of Jamaica.

An American-Panamanian team has been exploring the mouth of the Chagres River since 2008, documenting its rich history. Christopher Columbus found it in 1502 on his fourth voyage to the New World and it became the gateway to Panama City, Spain's main port in the Pacific.

After the decline of the Spanish Empire in the late 18th century, the city became a backwater port and an entree for smuggling and illicit trade. With the California Gold Rush, the Chagres River again saw a flurry of activity, but the construction of the Panama railroad shifted transit traffic to the port of Colon and by 1855 the river was again a backwater.

At the edge of the Lajas Reef, the team found what appeared to be a field of six cannons, all covered with layers of sedimentary rock that had built up over the centuries, said archaeologist James P. Delgado, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Maritime Heritage Program in Silver Spring, Md., and a co-leader of the team. The cannons seem to be from the 17th century and five are probably French.

Morgan's flagship "was a captured French vessel, and the mix [of cannons] is the type of thing one would expect for a privateer," Delgado said. "These guys grabbed whatever they could get a hold of."

At least two more guns are buried in the sand, along with an anchor, ceramics, bottles and other artifacts, he said. Magnetometers indicate that other metal objects are buried more deeply.

"The only wrecks that we know of that happened on that reef are his," said Delgado, who worked with colleagues from Texas State University-San Marcos, the Waitt Institute in La Jolla and Panama's National Institute of Culture. Moreover, an old map found in local archives indicates the site of the wreck is the location where the team found the cannons.

The archaeologists had not intended to bring the cannons to the surface, but treasure hunters have apparently been working at the site. "There is evidence of explosions, heavy gouging and digging and massive scooped-out areas," Delgado said. "The reef has really been hit hard," forcing their hand.

thomas.maugh@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Tim

 

[LM]

The archaeologists had not intended to bring the cannons to the surface, but treasure hunters have apparently been working at the site. "There is evidence of explosions, heavy gouging and digging and massive scooped-out areas," Delgado said. "The reef has really been hit hard," forcing their hand.

Is there any evidence that this was contemporary activity?
Harry Rieseberg wrote a fun little book in the early 40's called "I Dive For Treasure" where he talked about his TH activities, blowing up old wrecks, etc. People have been doing this for a hundred years or more and the early guys never formally documented any of their activities. They just found old wrecks, got what there was to get via any means necessary then sailed off to the next one. Honestly, it's the kind of stuff that makes everyone cringe- public archaeologist and private salvor alike.

Only recently has archaeological awareness factored in- the debate between public and private salvage rages on- yet I'd imagine you'd be hard pressed to find anyone using explosives on historic wreck sites today like they did in the early days. Is this still common practice?

The article presents the matter in such a way to suggest that there was some overwhelming imperative to raise the cannons because of ongoing treasure hunting activity, based on 'evidence' that may have resulted from expeditions conducted in the 30's, 40's or 50's.

 

[Daedalus]

It give them a reason to do what they are doing. That is what they most likely used to get the funds to bring up the cannons off the wreck.
This has happened many times over the last decade or so . Used to they were looking for gold so they did not care if the blew the place off the map . Now that they are looking for the rest of the wreck for history or what they can sell on E bay they are not quite so ruff with getting at the items.

 

[Salvor6]

Hey LSMorgan you need to visit Henry Morgans tomb in Port Royal. Its Jamaicas top tourist destination. I was there in 1994.