|
Shipwreck May Yield Billions in Gold VOA News 24 Feb 2002 11:26 UTC 
The British government and a team of entrepreneurs and archaeologists say they may have discovered the British warship HMS Sussex, sunk some 300 years ago in the Mediterranean Sea.
The New York Times says plans are underway to excavate the find, which experts say could rank as one of the most important from the sea. The discovery could yield the recovery of billions of dollars in treasure and illuminate a lost chapter in world history.
In 1694, the Sussex led a large fleet into battle against the French. Records show the ship was also secretly carrying a small fortune in gold coin meant to buy the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy in France. However, the Sussex never accomplished its mission. A violent storm hit the flotilla near the Strait of Gibraltar, sinking the ship and its treasure.
Historians say the loss of the Sussex's payment appears to have sent the Duke of Savoy into the French camp, altering the war's outcome as well as a swath of European and American history.
|