Catholic Online Forum

Odyssey Marine said the company spent more than $2 million salvaging the treasure.

Spanish officials said they have no plans to reimburse the company for their work, saying there was never any agreement regarding the treasure in the first place.

This whole thing really bugs me.

The Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady of Mercy in English) was a Spanish frigate which was sunk by the British off the south coast of Portugal on 5 October 1804 during the Battle of Cape Santa Maria.

The Battle of Cape Santa Maria (also known as the Battle of Cape St Mary; in Spanish Batalla del Cabo de Santa María) was a naval action that took place off the southern Portuguese coast, in which a British squadron under the command of Commodore Graham Moore attacked a Spanish squadron commanded by Brigadier Don José de Bustamante y Guerra, in time of peace, without declaration of war between the UK and Spain.

Under the terms of a secret convention Spain had to pay 72 million francs annually to France, until it declared war on Britain. The British had learned of the treaty, and knew it was likely that Spain would declare war soon after the arrival of the treasure ships. Since the British also knew that by law the fleet could only land at Cádiz, as well as its place and approximate time of departure from South America, it was not difficult to position a squadron to intercept it.

Bustamante had set sail from Montevideo on 9 August 1804 with four frigates loaded with gold and silver, as well as much other valuable cargo. On 22 September Vice Admiral Lord Collingwood ordered Captain Graham Moore, commanding the 44-gun frigate HMS Indefatigable, to intercept and detain the Spanish ships, peacefully, if possible.

Moore's ship arrived off Cadiz on 29 September and was joined on 2 October by HMS Lively, and by HMS Medusa and HMS Amphion the day after. In line abreast they patrolled the approaches to Cádiz.

The action was considered an act of piracy: attack in time of peace to a Spanish fleet carrying goods and civilian personnel.[citation needed]

Spain declared war on Great Britain on 14 December 1804, only to suffer a catastrophic defeat less than a year later at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. Napoleon, having crowned himself Emperor on 2 December, gained Spain as an ally in his war against Britain.

In practical terms, the British interception of the four Real Armada frigates represented the end of an era for Bourbon Spain and regular specie shipments from the Empires New World mines and mints. The squadron to which Mercedes belonged was the last of its kind that the world would see: a Spanish treasure fleet moving bullion from the New World Viceroyalties to the Iberian kingdoms: after 1804, the Spanish motto Plus Ultra no longer held.

Under the terms of the Cruizers and Convoys Act of 1708 ships captured at sea were "Droits of the Crown" and became the property of their captors, who received the full value of the ships and cargo in prize money. However, since technically Britain and Spain were not at war at the time of the action, the Admiralty Court ruled that the three ships were "Droits of the Admiralty", and all revenues would revert to them. The four Spanish ships carried a total of 4,286,508 Spanish dollars in silver and gold coin, as well as 150,000 gold ingots, 75 sacks of wool, 1,666 bars of tin, 571 pigs of copper, seal skins and oil, although 1.2 million in silver, half the copper and a quarter of the tin went down with the Mercedes. Still, the remaining ships and cargo were assessed at a value of £900,000 (equivalent to £62,923,000 today.[1]). After much legal argument an ex gratia payment was made which, according to one account, amounted to £250,000. If so, each of the four Captains would have received £23,500 each (around £1,643,000 at present day values.[1]).

The Medea was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Iphigenia (later renamed HMS Imperieuse), Santa Clara as HMS Leocadia and the Fama as HMS Fama.

In March 2007 the Florida-based company Odyssey Marine Exploration recovered 17 tons of gold and silver from the Mercedes, insisting that it had been found in international waters and therefore beyond the legal jurisdiction of any one country. The Spanish government branded the Odyssey team "21st century pirates" and in May 2007 launched legal proceedings arguing that the wreck was protected by "sovereign immunity" which prohibits the unauthorized disturbance or commercial exploitation of state-owned naval vessels. In June 2009 the Federal Court in Tampa found against Odyssey and ordered the treasure to be returned to Spain

The Spanish government branded the Odyssey team "21st century pirates" and in May 2007 launched legal proceedings arguing that the wreck was protected by "sovereign immunity" which prohibits the unauthorized disturbance or commercial exploitation of state-owned naval vessels. In June 2009 the Federal Court in Tampa found against Odyssey and ordered the treasure to be returned to Spain

I would have hauled the cache back to sea and dumped it, uncrated and loose while travelling at 20 knots for the Spaniards to recover on their own.

Many amateurs now have access to equipment that was only in the hands of researchers or the military 30 years ago. Everyone and their brother can now become an "underwater archaeologist".

A message is being sent with this ruling.

Mike

Oh! Fiddlesticks. no one was even looking for it.

I would have hauled the cache back to sea and dumped it...

When I first saw this on the news I was more than just a little surprised by the American decision. I had thought that wrecks at the bottom of the ocean belonged to whoever happened to find them and bring them to the surface.

Bob A,



Only to find yourself hauled back into the court, found to be in contempt, then languishing in prison till the contempt was extinguished.

Spanish authorities have unveiled some of the treasure from a frigate that sank more than 200 years ago with more than 500,000 silver coins onboard.

The treasure from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, estimated to be worth around $500 million, was discovered by a United States salvage company in 2007.

The Spanish naval ship, which was sunk by the British navy in 1804, returned to Spain in February after a five-year legal battle with Odyssey, the US treasure-hunting company that hauled it up.

The trove contains hundreds of thousands of coins and artefacts, such as religious images and chests.

...
As for the treasure that was stolen from Odessay Marine after all their work, it was loaded on Spanish Air Force Planes and flown out of MacDill AFB some time earlier this year. MacDill is about a mile from where I sit.

If you or I do it it is stealing. When governments do it it is confiscation.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

A message is being sent with this ruling.

Yes, that government will allow one to take all the risk and then government will take all the reward.

Winning the future.

So, what's new? Governments have all manner of ways to take property and probably twice as many "valid" reasons and names for the process. They can't take what they don't know about though.

Maybe the next time the salvage operator will keep his discoveries secret.

I was unable to find a reference but the next salvage job they started they already had clearance from the country that might make a claim.

I admire their efforts to bring to light historical artifacts and I respect their backers for "donating" the huge sum of money required for such an effort in light of a potential confiscation of any valuables found, but I wonder a bit about their sanity. I'd let the lost treasure remain just that if it was my money at stake.