Hunt For The HMS Sussex

Hunt On For HMS Sussex & World's Richest Underwater Treasure

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by SINIKKA TARVAINEN

MADRID, Spain In February 1694, British admiral Francis Wheeler set sail from the Bay of Gibraltar with an important mission. He was to bring a large sum of money to the Duke of Savoy in order to buy his loyalty and to ensure victory in Britain's ongoing war against France's Sun King Louis XIV. But when the HMS Sussex arrived in the Strait of Gibraltar, it was hit by a violent storm, and Wheeler struggled in vain to save it. The 50-metre warship went down with more than 500 men, 80 cannons and an estimated 10 tons of gold coins on board. Three centuries later, a US company specialized in underwater treasure hunts intends to haul up what is believed to be the world's richest sunken booty. Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration has reached an agreement with the British and Spanish governments to explore a wreck it believes to be that of the Sussex at a depth of about 800 metres. The value of the gold coins is estimated at up to 3.3 billion euros (4.4 billion dollars). If the treasure is found, it will be split between the explorers and the British government, the legal owner of the ship which once sailed under its banner. Not everyone is happy about the pioneering public-private deal, with some archaeologists fearing that the involvement of commercial companies could lead to a global scavenging of shipwrecks littering the world's oceans. Odyssey, however, says it is committed to protecting the underwater cultural heritage and to developing a practical standard for commercial and academic coordination on shipwreck recovery. Odyssey had already done exploration work on the wreck thought to be the Sussex, but was ordered to interrupt it in 2006 over Spanish fears that it was not respecting the conditions set by Madrid. Archaeologists appointed by the Andalusian regional authorities will now participate in the operation, and the central government also pledged to keep a watchful eye over it to prevent any archaeological 'pillaging' on Spanish territory. It is actually unclear whether the wreck is in Spanish waters, but Madrid wants to make the rules clear in view of possible explorations of Spanish wrecks later on.

The British warship HMS Sussex sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Gibraltar in 1694. Spain is believed to be one of the world's richest underwater treasure houses. More than 700 wrecks dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries are estimated to lie in its waters, many of them possibly loaded with gold and silver plundered in Latin America. 'There is more gold in the Gulf of Cadiz than in the Spanish national bank,' archaeology professor Manuel Martin Bueno said. There is also the possibility that the wreck located by Odyssey is not the Sussex, but a Spanish galleon, another reason why Madrid wants to keep its explorers under control. Odyssey Marine Exploration scanned about 1,000 square kilometres of sea bottom with sonars in its search for the Sussex. It located 418 wrecks and other targets, only one of which contained cannon. It was positioned near to where the Sussex reportedly foundered. The site is too deep for divers, but Odyssey intended to use search and recovery vessels, side scan sonar equipment and robots, the company told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Odyssey has formerly found several treasures, including gold coins and artifacts worth 75 million dollars off the US coast in 2003. The length of the new exploration depends on many factors and cannot yet be determined, company sources said.

$$ Ten Thousand Dollar Reward For Stolen Key West Treasure!

Gold Bullion Stolen From Mel Fisher's  Florida Treasure Museum
(Reuters) - Thieves stole a $550,000 gold bar from a treasure museum where it went on display after a Florida salvager recovered it from the wreck of a Spanish galleon that lay on the ocean floor for centuries, the museum's executive director said.

The 74.85-ounce gold bar was stolen on Wednesday from the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida, in what executive director Melissa Kendrick called "a very quiet smash and grab."

The 11-inch (28-centimeter) gold bar was inside a glass case with a small opening where visitors could stick a hand inside and lift the bar to examine it.

Footage from the museum's security camera clearly showed two culprits who made off with it, and the FBI and local police were investigating. The museum's insurer offered a $10,000 reward for its safe return, Kendrick said on Thursday.

Do You Know These Assholes? If you do you could be $10.000 richer ..

Gold has hovered near historic highs after hitting a record $1,266.50 an ounce in June, but the stolen bar's $550,000 valuation reflects historic value far beyond its melt-down worth.

Mel Fisher, a Key West treasure hunter who died in 1998, recovered the bar in 1980 from the wreck of the Santa Margarita, a Spanish galleon that sank off the Florida Keys during a hurricane in 1622.

Kendall said the bar had several distinctive markings, including Roman numerals signifying it was 16-karat gold, a symbol identifying its owner, and a series of dots indicating what taxes the owner had paid to the Spanish crown.

"It's a one-of-a-kind piece," Kendall said.

The theft was the talk of Key West, an island town of 25,000 people at the southern tip of the Florida Keys.

Fisher and his crew found the wreck of the Santa Margarita while searching for its sister ship, the Nuestra Senora de Atocha.

The ships were part of a flotilla carrying gold, silver, emeralds and pearls from the colonial New World back to Spain.

Fisher and his crew found the Atocha's motherlode in 1985, hauling up one of the world's greatest sunken treasures of gold, silver bars and coins, as well as jewelry, gems and housewares owned by the sailors, soldiers, noblemen and clergy who perished when the ship sank.
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Treasures Of Upper Tampa Bay Florida- Ross Island Part II

One day while the pirates were transferring merchandise from a ship near the mouth of Tampa Bay, a United States warship came along and chased them back into their lair.  It was there the pirate ship meet its end in the old lagoon. A party of thirty sailors and marines landed and captured seven unlucky pirates, promptly hanging them from the nearby pine trees. The rest managed to escape into the mangroves. All this happened sometime in the early 1830's. Their are many reports of old muskets, china and pewter dinnerware and other artifacts that have been uncovered all around this site. However both myself and Treasure Dave unanimously agree in a high probability for a real treasure score almost anywhere on the island .. I can promise you that Ross Island will not give up any booty without a fight! If you can find the site of the old pirate fort you will be off to a good start. From what I've read, the naval shore party is said to have burned the pirate fort and spiked the cannons...Here is a map to get you started! Let me know if you have any luck.

Treasures Of Upper Tampa Bay Florida- Ross Island Part 1

Ross is the largest and southernmost of a string of small islands that lie south of the Florida Power complex and east of Weedon's Island in Tampa Bay. It's about a mile long from north to south and a little over 1/2 mile wide from east to west at its widest point. It is crisscrossed by drainage canals dug many years ago in an effort to control mosquito's. A large worn down Indian mound lies on the southern part of the island. While digging the drainage canals some years ago, the drag line operator uncovered several old iron ships cannon and a heavy anchor. These were so heavy that they nearly overturned the light drag line rig before the operator finally got them up on the bank, and It was there that they were covered over with sand and muck being dug from the ditch. Research shows that Ross Island was the headquarters for a pirate gang who kept their shallow-craft schooner in a lagoon on the east side of the island, using a channel which led directly to a deeper ship channel out in Tampa Bay. This particular gang of buccaneer's maintained a lookout in a crow's nest atop a nearby tall pine tree, when a likely looking ship  was seen sailing up or down Tampa Bay, a pirate in the crow's nest would blow a horn made from a large conch shell. The crew would then assemble and sally out in pursuit of their victim, usually running them down near Egmont Key.

Clay County Georgia Treasure Tip

Anybody out there familiar with Clay County Georgia? If you are, their just might be a few GOLD coins left for the taking, Click Here To Read More!

A Punta Gorda Treasure Yarn From Florida's Past

This one sounds a little scary ... but quite a few of the real treasure legends start out this way. Someone out there just might want to follow up on this one, any takers? Click Here To Read More.

Harrisburg Pennsylvania Treasure Tip

I was wondering if anybody out there has taken a shot at this site or might know anything about it??    Sounds like it might have some potential ?  Click Here To Read More

Oklahoma Buried Treasure

Click on the link to read more-  Oil wasn’t the only treasure 
P.S. Click on Map to Enlarge