ROUND THE WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20290, 24 December 1927, Page 13

ROUND THE WORLD.

GOSSIP OF THE PORTS. THE GOODWIN SANDS. No part of the world "’.as claimed ft greater toll of shipwrecks tA»n the notorious Goodwin Sands in the English Channel. Lying almost at the entrance to the River Thames, all shipping making to or coming from the Port of London must of necessity pass close to this danger zone. Although well lighted and buoyed and navigation made as safe as human ingenuity can possibly make it, year after year sees the enormous toll added to. In 1926 no fewer than 17 .vessels piled up on the Goodwins, and only one of them succeeded in getting off again. The sands stretch for about 10 miles, and the greater part of them are dry at low water. At high tide there is only about 15ft of water covering the shoal, and as few ships now sailing the deep waters draw less than that, it will be appreciated that shipmasters are very much worried gentlemen when in the vicinity. Careful statistics have been compiled by Lloyd’s which show that no fewer than 5450 vessels have met their doom ou the Goodwins. The sands are honeycombed with the skeletons of ships. Every type of vessel lies buried there —Roman and Phoenician galleys, Indiamen belonging to the Honourable East India Company, car racks laden deep from the Isthmus. high-pooped galleons, and treasure ships of the days when the sea dogs of Queen Elizabeth chased the flag of Spain from off the ocean Lying beside crack 74’s of Nelson’s time, the wooden walls of old England, will be found several steelarmoured warships belonging to Jellicoe * fleet which did their duty during the dark days of the Great War. In the year 1808 the writer saw no fewer than nine big ships piled up to the north, of the Gulf Stream Light, a toll of a heavy winter gale. Not one of them was to be seen a week later, all engulfed in the quicksands. Seventeen of Admiral Blake’s ships are buried there, with a whole squadron of Van Tromp’s beside them to keep them company. From time to time we are told jn the press where interesting relics of these old ships have been discovered On the Goodwins. A few months ago the bell and bower anchor of the East Indiaman, Raja-, putan, wrecked in 1798, were found, both in a perfect state of preservation. Apart from the question of ships, guns and men, the treasure which is contained in, the Goodwins is simply incalculable.*Th« records of the Honourable East India Company tell us that the treasure contained in 12 of their ships wrecked there* amounted to £7,000,000. The Dei Gracia, a stately Spanish galleon captured off Panama by an English privateersman, was found to have her holds laden with the wealth of Peru. While being convoyed up channel by the frigate Glastow she ran on the sands and became a total loss. It was estimated that gold, silver, and precious stones to the value of upwards €2,000,000 went down with her. And so on down the ages we hear the story of the wealth buried there.

For a long time the salvage companies have planned and schemed to recover some of the treasure trove, and the best brains in the engineering world have examined the project from every standpoint. The latest proposal, planned originally by Lord Headley, president of the British Society of Engineers, is to sink a gigantic concrete coffer dam through the centre of the Goodwins. From the base of the shaft, tunnels and borings will be run out in all directions at different depths, and it is estimated that interesting discoveries will be made every few yards. It ia a well-known fact that very few of the ships wrecked on the Goodwins were broken up before they sunk into the depths of the sands. 'As many of the wrecks will be entire, much of the treasure in them will be there still. The promoters of the scheme are sanguine of success, and apart from the monetary consideration, many interesting facts of an historical and antiquarian nature may be brought to light. On the other hand, seamen who have had experience of _ this very treacherous spot are of the opinion that owing to the shifting and fine texture of the sands, no foundation will ever be found firm enough to hold the tower. In Tobermory Bay, on the west coast of Scotland, a ‘salvage company has been at work for the past 22 years trying to recover the treasure trove from the Almirante de Florencia, a treasure ship of the Spanish Armada wrecked there in 1588. This ship, which had been chased by Drake and his seadogs, was blown up and sunk. Numerous relics, guns, swords, and Spanish coins have been recovered, but owing to the explosion the bulk of the treasure was badly scattered, and great difficulty has been found in locating the main portion of the wreck. In this case it has been estimated that more money has been spent on the Tobermory salvage work than was ever contained in the wreck. The promoters of the Goodwin scheme argue that the same difficulties will not be found in their project, as it is estimated that so many ships are in tile Goodwins that the finding of one of the East Indiamen alone will more than pay for all the outlay. Whatever is the result of this scheme from a financial point of view, it will be at least a standing tribute to the value and power of British engineering if the Goodwin Sands could be made to disgorge the secrets they have held for more than 1000 years.