SALVAGE OF THE LUTINE

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1577, 22 November 1924, Page 2

SALVAGE OF THE LUTINE

f.Sthj CENTURY TREASURE :SHIP f .

Romance and' practical considera*

tions combine to make a scheme which * is on foot for the recovery of cargo and other objects from the wreck of H.M.S. Lutine, lost on the night October 9-10, 1799, in the shallows about mid-way between Terschelling and Vlieland, one of the most interesting salvage operations of recent years. All concerned in shipping are familiar with the name of the famous “Lutine” bell at Lloyd’s, which is rung as a preliminary to the announcement by the “caller” of news of an overdue ship. Details of the connection between the old ship’s bell and the vessel in which it sank a., century and a quarter ago, and the history of that vessel, were given in a recent issue of “Lloyd’s iList and Shipping Gazette,” which announced that a contract has j been signed between Lloyd’s and two ! Dutch gentlemen of Delft whereby the latter are permitted to carry on for a specfied period salvage operations for the recovery of cargo or other objects from the wreck of H.M.S. Lutine. The salvors intend to use an

apparatus of their ,own invention. A craft Ps now being fitted out, and operations will be started as soon as weather permits. Before the days of the French Revolution, in 1785, the Lutine, a 32-gun frigate, was launched for the French Navy as La Lutine. She was captured by Duncan at Camperdown on October 11, 1797, and since she was lost in 1799, her history has been inseparably connected with that of Lloyd’s. BOUND FOR THE TEXEL.

How much treasure was aboard the ship when she sank has for long been a matter for speculation, but the journal above quoted states that she made her last voyage at a time when the North Sea was in the “fog of war.” Time and fire have played havoc with the documents which might be expected to' throw light on the case, and it appears to be impossible to say, with any approach to certainty, whether the bullion and specie still remaining in the wreck and the sands which engulf it is worth only a few thousands or over a million. It has frequently been stated that at the time of her loss the Lutine was bound for the Texel with money consigned by the Treasury for the payment of the British troops in Holland. There appears to be no foundation for these statements. Early in October Admiral Lord Duncan, then on bord H.M.S. Kent, lying at Yarmouth Roads, informed the Admiralty that “the Merchants interested in making remittances to the Continent for the support of their credit having made application to me for a King’s ship to carry over a considerable sum of money, on account ,of their being no Paquet for that purpose, I complied with their request and ordered the Lutine to Cuxhaven with the same, together with the mails lying there for want of conveyance.”

The frigate was lost in a heavy N.N.W. gale, and of the two survivors one died immediately after his rescue, and the other, a notary, did not live to reach England. In the brief account he was able to give of the disaster he related strangely enough, that the ship was “bound for the Texel.”

The underwriters at Lloyd’s, with whom the bullion was insured, promptly settled a total loss. Of gold and silver bullion to the amount of over £55,000, recovered by fishermen and boatmen, two-thirds of the proceeds were claimed by the Dutch Government. Ih 1821 Mr Pierre Eschauzier obtained from the Dutch Government a Royal decree granting to him exclusive rights to undertake the salvage of the Lutine, it being stipulated that one half of the recovered treasure should be handed over to the Government. The results of his work were practically negligible. The Dutch Government subsequently agreed to cede to Lloyd’s that Government society of the proceeds of any salvage. Agreements have since that date been entered into by Lloyd’s with numerous salvors, but the results have been extrenu l.v disappoi.ltlag.