They found a sunken warship in 1682: a future king of England survived the shipwreck

Explorers and historians have revealed the discovery of the remains of a warship that sunk in 1682 while carrying a future king from England, Ireland and Scotland.

HMS Gloucester, sailing from southern England to Scotland, he ran aground on the sandbanks off the town of Great Yarmouth on England’s east coast. She sank in an hour and between 130 and 250 crew members and passengers died.

One survivor was James Stuartson of King Carlos I. Later reigned as James II of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland from 1685 to 1688when he was overthrown by the Glorious Revolution.

Brothers Julian and Lincoln Barnwell found the Gloucester remains in 2007 after four years of searching. The identity of the ship was confirmed in 2012 with the discovery of the bell

The announcement of the discovery was made by the University of East Anglia which announced on Friday 10 the discovery of the “Gloucester”, a British ship whose shipwreck in 1682 survived the future King of England, James II, a delicate discovery kept secret for 15 years.

The famous ship was half-buried at the bottom of the sea when two brothers, Julian and Lincoln Barnwell, accompanied by their father and two friends, found it in 2007, after four years of research, off the coast of Norfolk (East England).

The reason for the secret

The find has been kept secret until today to allow identification of the remains and to protect it, as it is located in international waters, this university said in a statement.

‘This is an outstanding example of underwater cultural heritage of national and international significance,’ said Professor Claire Jowitt, an expert in maritime history.

“It is the most important maritime discovery since the ‘Mary Rose’,” sunk in 1545 and found in the 1980s, explained this specialist, “the age and prestige of the ship, the state of the wreck, the objects found and the political context of the accident“.

The “Gloucester” sank in less than an hour on 6 May 1682 off the coast of Great Yarmouth from a disagreement between the future King James II and the ship’s pilot on how to approach an area where sandbanks abound.

About 250 crew members were killed, but James II was saved.

“‘Gloucester’ represents a moment that ‘almost’ marks British political history: a shipwreck that nearly cost the Catholic heir to the throne of the Protestant kingdom in death, at a time of great tensions,” said the University of ‘East Anglia.

“If he had died, the history of Britain and Europe would have been very different,” explained Jowitt.

“I think this is a time capsule that gives us the opportunity to find out a lot about life aboard a 17th century ship. The real nature of the ship is absolutely stunning and unique,” he added.

For now, the removal of Gloucester’s remains is not planned as they are largely buried in the sand.

“We’ve just hit the tip of the iceberg,” said Julian Barnwell.

The recovered artifacts include clothing, shoes, boating gear, and many bottles of wine. On one bottle is stamped the coat of arms of the Legge family, ancestors of George Washington, the first president of the United States. The shield is an antecedent to the current American Stars and Stripes flag.

An exhibition is scheduled for next year at the Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery.

With information from AP and AFP