Help!!! Im new to this need info!!please

[DougRecovery]

Hi,
Im very new to this entire scene diving shipwrecks and everything, mainly thanks to Dr cussler im afraid, i could do with any advise you can give and since you are the the most informative and friendly group of people i have found on the web i look forward to your help.

also,
A bit of a confusing one this one, does anyone have any information regarding the "Merchant Royall" she sank in september 1641 roughly 35 miles from Lands End. I know she was travelling with her sister the "Dover Merchant" and there is a good possability she was carrying Gold and Silver from spain however so far we have only worked out there is a large area to cover. anyhelp would be fantastic.

 

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[wreckdiver1715]

Good morning DougRecovery, Welcome to TreasureNet, I am sure that you will enjoy the site and hopefully you will find all your answers.

Good Hunting

Q

 

[Cablava]

This is not my information but its the right ship

The 700-ton, 32-gun Merchant Royal (sometimes spelt "Royall" in the style of the times) was a trading ship owned by four London merchants. She spent three years trading with Spanish colonies in the West Indies from 1637-40. We were at peace with Spain at this time, so the Merchant Royal and her sister-ship, the Dover Merchant, called into Cadiz on their way home to London. By all accounts she was leaking badly after her long voyage.
When a Spanish ship in Cadiz at the same time caught fire just before she was due to carry treasure to convert into pay for Spain's 30,000 soldiers in Flanders, the Merchant Royal's Captain Limbrey saw his chance to make a little more cash for his owners. He volunteered to carry the treasure to Antwerp on his way home.
How much treasure? Details vary but she certainly had 100,000 in gold (20 million in today's money) on board, 400 bars of Mexican silver (another 1 million) and nearly 500,000 pieces of eight and other coins.
However, you know what treasure-hunters are. Some of those involved expect to find John Limbrey's own personal fortune from that long voyage in the wreck as well, so estimates run up to 100 million!
The Merchant Royal went on leaking after she and her sister-ship left Cadiz and, when the pumps broke down, she foundered off Land's End in rough weather on 23 September,1641.
Her sinking was seen by the Dover Merchant, which estimated their position as "ten leagues from Land's End". If the weather was bad, they would hardly have been able to see the coast, which throws considerable doubt on that position. (For those keen to work out where she lies, a league was 3.18 nautical miles, and for practical purposes in those days was taken as three nautical miles).
Eighteen men drowned in the sinking - Captain Limbrey and 40 of his crew got away in boats and were picked up by Dover Merchant.

 

[Cablava]

You will find information in this book but there are no X marks the spot. (I have no relationship with this press or the author of the book)

The Mariner's Chronicle
edited by Archibald Duncan

To order by cheque (UK only)
Send ?19.95 plus ?2.50 shipping to:
Black Apollo Press
Germinal Productions
1A Flower Street
Cambridge CB1 2NH
books@germinalproductions.co.uk

 

[Cablava]

Sorry do not buy the book for this ship, I just checked and this is all the book contains on your ship.

"Numerous broadsheets were published on individual shipping losses on an ad hoc basis, such as those on the Merchant Royal, the Royal James, or the Gloucester Frigate, and publications like the London Gazette contained brief listings of shipping losses on a weekly basis".

This was written by Nigel Pickford as an introduction to the book, (it obvioulsy contained more info but not on your ship)

 

[Cablava]

Another thing I have on this is the following statemtent But I cannot remember where I got it from, but it was the bronze cannons that got my attention.


Off Land?s End, in 1641 the "Merchant Royal" ran aground with 36 bronze cannon and ?500,000 in silver bullion on board

 

[DougRecovery]

Thank you so much i had no idea how helpful it would be if i joined this forum. turns out pretty helpful indeed.
I understand from my grandfather (who was in the Royal navy) and from actually being there that Lands end is how can i put it a bit of an "Accident Blackspot" so to my understanding there will be a hell of a lot of ships down there. my friend is currently "trying" to construct an ROV so we would like to use this a lot. also where can i get depth charts. i really am new to this as you can tell.

 

[Cablava]

You can get charts at any good yacht Chandlers, unless you live in China like me, where they are secret documents it seems.

 

[DougRecovery]

Excellent thank you! your in china wow thats pretty cool. Im also trying to find out what happened to an american navy salvage ship the uss recovery (ARS - 43) but she was transferred to the "R.O.C" in Taiwan i probably wont find anything else out,but its only a pet project to satisfy my curiosity really.

 

[Cablava]

Decommissioned and stricken on 30 September 1994 Transferred to Taiwan being renamed Ta De on 30 September 1998
Still active as of 2003

 

[Cablava]

http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/wwii/boatbuilders/smallauxils/ars.htm

 

[DougRecovery]

You are a star in every possible meaning of the word thank you so so much i had come to complete dead stop on this i even emailed the defence website. forever grateful doug

 

[Narked1]

Doug,
Am in affiliated with the Foreign Military Sales program under USAID. Just called a friend of mine that was in Taiwan a month ago and, as Cablava has already stated, was still in active service as of 2003. The Ta De is currently located in Kau Shung. Whether the ship is still in active service or just chained to the pier is unknown. However, knowing the Taiwan Navy, it is still in service.

Narked1

 

[DougRecovery]

Thank you Narked1 its good to know she's still afloat after surviving this long. i appreciate your help.