Tell us where HMS Victory lies – Alderney States President
Tuesday 24th February 2009, 2:29PM GMT.
The crew of Odyssey Explorer complete the lift of one of the cannons from HMS Victory, which the company claims to have found in an undisclosed location. (Picture courtesy of Odyssey Marine Exploration)
ALDERNEY’S President of the States has called for HMS Victory’s exact resting place to be revealed.
In a letter to The Times, Sir Norman Browse, pictured, said independent confirmation was needed to say whether the 265-year-old wreck lay in British, French, international or Alderney waters.
Sir Norman also suggested that the site be protected and asked the Ministry of Defence to ensure that professional archaeologists, working to archaeological rather than profit-seeking strategies, assessed the wreck.
Earlier this month, Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration announced that it found the wreck of Victory last May. It had become separated from escorting vessels as they returned from fighting the French fleet off Portugal in 1744.
According to Odyssey, the 175ft wooden man-of-war’s final resting place is around 100km from the Channel Islands.
Before the announcement, however, it was thought that Victory sank off Les Casquets, west of Alderney.
Victory, which went down with the loss of all 1,100 officers and ratings, provided the inspiration for the ship commanded by Admiral Lord Nelson several decades later.
Sir Norman, who is chairman of the Alderney Maritime Trust, wrote: ‘Some years ago Alderney established a maritime trust to protect and excavate any wrecks discovered in its waters. The non-profit making trust hoped that one day it would find, study and excavate Victory.’
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Did Sir Norman not watch the programe on Sky TV the team at O.M.E. are professional archaeologists and great care seemed to be taken when surveying the wreck,when they dug up a human skeleton it was reburied and all work stopped untill permision was granted for them to carry on. i am not sure what it has to do with Alderney as the wreck belongs to the M.O.D.
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It is just amazing to me how some people think. Does SIR expect companies to spend millions finding a wreck, that Alderney has been interested in for years yet done nothing, then just hand it over to them on a silver platter. Do you not understand that Odyssey has the skill, ability and expertise to not only find it but archaeologically excavated it as well? I think you have been brain washed by the publish or perish mob. Sorry, there is only a million wrecks left in the world, how about go finding your own!! Jack Dyer
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Sir Norman,
I would suggest that you do some “due diligence” before offering opinions as to what, who, how and when work on or recovery of the “HMS Victory” take place. IMHO, the team that is most well equipped to handle such a find is already on site including “professional archaeologists”. Have you by any chance read their preliminary report it can be found on the Odyssey web site. I would suggest you have a look.
Trouble is Sir, you are listening to only one side of this story that is the other archaeologists who seem to have feasted on a bunch of sour grapes. The fact is that Odyssey is out there investigating wrecks in international and national waters and turning over evidence and disseminating information an unprecedent scale. I’m pretty sure that with the current financial situations around the world that private-public partnerships will be the best way to both assess and manage the underwater cultural resources. For every year that the wreck lies on the bottom there is just that much less to recover study and interpret. I’m sure that they are working closely with the proper authorities in this matter (MOD).
Jim Sinclair
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Dear Sir
From my reading of the news, Odyssey Marine, while obviously hoping to recoup some of the millions they have expended in the effort to find and document the wreck, have done an outstanding job. This is a service not only to commercial interests but to history, our heritage and frankly is riveting to see and hear. I would much rather be able to go to a museum and see the artifacts than to have them lie on the bottom of the sea for eternity. It strikes me that there are those who for whatever reason object on the grounds of violation of a grave. Yet conventional archaeologists on the surface plunder numerous graves on both sides of the Atlantic in the name of learning about our heritage. Please sir, let us be consistent and honest. At least admit that you have a personal dislike of Odyssey Marine and/or its leadership.
Respectfully,
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I suspect the finders want to keep the whereabouts private so HMG or whomever cant confiscate the proceeds.
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