1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. The wreck of the Mary Rose came up 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: on our most recent installment of Unearthed, and not for 3 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: the first time. So Today's Saturday Classic is five shipwreck 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: stories from previous hosts of the show, Sarah and Deblina. Yeah. 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: I figured, since we keep saying they talked about it 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: on that prior episode, why not put it back in 7 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: the feed. This episode originally came out April seven, and 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: it covers the Rex of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Mary Rose, 9 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: the Medusa, the Brown Maria, and the Widden. So enjoy 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 12 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm Deblina Chuck Reboarding, and today 13 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: you're infratreat because we're going to be talking about five 14 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: pretty amazing shipwrecks. And the really cool thing about it 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: is you guys picked all of these. Yeah. On Facebook, 16 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: we asked for some recommendations, and you guys gave us 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: awesome ones. And I mean a lot too. I think 18 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: there were seventy something comments just on Facebook. Yeah. I 19 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: think we could do a shipwreck only podcast series for 20 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: the next six months. No kidding. Um, So we're only 21 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: gonna do five for this episode, but we might be 22 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: tempted to to revisit this again because you'll know that 23 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: I like shipwrecks. I think, Dablina, you're certainly growing to 24 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: like them. Yeah, I love I love shipwreck stories, that's 25 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: for sure. Some of them are kind of sad for 26 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: me to stomach. Yeah, they are sad, and I don't 27 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: want to sound to light about it, but you know, 28 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: they're interesting too, That's that's what I enjoy about them. Yeah. Absolutely, 29 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: It's not just about the event the wreck itself. It's 30 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: all the things that you learn about a particular culture, 31 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: particular time period from the things that are found if 32 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: they're found, you know, if there's an excavation that takes place, 33 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: and all the things that you get from there and 34 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: the consequences. And I think the recovery efforts alone are 35 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: really interesting stories. We talked about that a little bit 36 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: when we were discussing these Roman shipwrecks last fall. You know, 37 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: just the recovery effort is is pretty interesting. All of 38 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: the people who work on it, the archaeological work, all 39 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: the fish sauce involved fish sauce. Yeah, that was right, 40 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: I forgot about that, thanks for thanks for reminding me. 41 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: But anyways, we're gonna kick this off with the shipwreck 42 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: that sort of made us think that maybe a series 43 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: or a list like this would be cool. It was 44 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: something that a listener wrote in to suggest, the Raal 45 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,239 Speaker 1: Maria shipwreck, and I just thought it was so neat. 46 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: It tied in different interests and different things that you 47 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: wouldn't expect all into one shipwreck, which I think that's 48 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: what they do, right. Yeah, and a tight in art too, 49 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: we'll see. But before we can get into the art, 50 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: we need to give you a little bit of backstory 51 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: about the from Maria. So in the nineteen seventies of 52 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,359 Speaker 1: Dr Christian Alstrom found documents in the Finnish National Archives 53 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: relating to a sunken Dutch merchant ship. And that's the 54 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: ship we're talking about right now. Yeah. It had been 55 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: traveling from Amsterdam to St. Petersburg and it sank in 56 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: a storm in the Baltic off the southern coast of 57 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: Finland way back in the autumn of seventeen seventy one. 58 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: So it was quite an old wreck by the time 59 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: Allstrom learned about it, and a further search of documents 60 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: in the archives and other sources uncovered the ship's protests, 61 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: which included the log book, but also a really tantalizing 62 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: list of items that had been salvaged from the wreck. 63 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: Because it didn't go down immediately like some of the 64 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: wrecks were going to discuss, there was time to get 65 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: a few of the precious items off off board. Yeah, 66 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: that list made the hunt for the fram Maria a 67 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: really popular enterprise with among amateur diverse throughout the nineteen seventies. 68 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: But it wasn't until nine that the society dedicated to 69 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: the search found the wreck, the actual wreck using side 70 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: scan sonar. Yeah, our old friend, side skin sonar how 71 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: you find ships these days. So the remains that they 72 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: found were remarkably well preserved. Ninety percent of the whole 73 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: is intact, and this makes it a really great way 74 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: to learn about Dutch ship building at the time and 75 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: what a jut like, what a typical Dutch merchant ship 76 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: would have been like, because it is so remarkably well preserved. 77 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: But that's that's not why we're talking about it. It's 78 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: not just a nice typical Dutch merchant ship. It's what 79 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: might still be inside. That's the real kicker because we 80 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: have the custom toll records in Denmark and the log 81 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: of the salvaged items, and that let's justus know some 82 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: of the luxury items or goods that you would expect 83 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: to be on board their sugar and cloth and zinc 84 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: and mercury. Fortunately they've determined the mercury has not leaked 85 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: into the Baltic die, just just the typical things you'd 86 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: think would be on the ship. No fish oil though, 87 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: no fish oil. But there was also some cargo listed 88 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: as assorted merchandise, and this was likely valuable luxury items, 89 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: some of which were also salvaged, and that included things 90 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: like books, years with guilt frames and even ivory eggs, 91 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,359 Speaker 1: which sounds pretty cool. I'm imagining like crates full of 92 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: ivory eggs. Probably it was just a couple of boxes, 93 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: but still. But the treasure ship reputation that this wreck 94 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: has comes from the fact that the Frown Maria was 95 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,479 Speaker 1: on an art run at the time of its thinking 96 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: for none other than Catherine the Great. Yeah, that's right. 97 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: So if y'all know a little bit about Katherine the Great, 98 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 1: maybe you've listened to the Caffine the Great series, you 99 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: know that in the late seventeen sixties early seventeen seventies, 100 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: Catherine was really looking to beef up her courts reputation 101 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: as a cultural capital, a cultural center that was equal 102 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: to the Courts and the rest of Europe. And to 103 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: do this, she knew that she didn't just need to 104 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: spend a lot of money. She needed to buy some 105 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: really pretty stuff, you know, art and things like the 106 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: works of Dutch masters. So that's exactly what she did. 107 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: She used connections through europe guys like Voltaire to set 108 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: up these art deals for her and build the collection. 109 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: And in July seventeen seventy one, she had one deal 110 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: like this go down, and it was a timber merchant 111 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: who was having his estate auctioned off. He was also 112 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: an art collector and Catherine's ambassador to the Hague was 113 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: sent off to take care of Catherine's interests and bid 114 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: on some of these nice paintings. So what was lost 115 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: in this wreck of those paintings, because we know that 116 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: she ordered them, but she bought them. Yeah, but a 117 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: lot of them none of them showed up, right, I 118 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 1: don't think so, none of hers, none of hers. So 119 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: judging from the auction catalogs as well as the doctoral 120 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: thesis of Dr Clara Bill from nineteen sixty one. We 121 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: can guess that the works were mostly of Dutch Golden 122 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: Age painters um, including Jan van Goyen, who made an 123 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 1: appearance in the Tulip And there are eleven paintings that 124 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: we know of, but it's very likely that there were more, 125 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: since correspondence at the time shows that there was an 126 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 1: extremely high value put on the bundle that Catherine bought. Yeah, 127 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: but our big question is if the paintings went down 128 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: with the ship, are they still down there and what 129 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 1: kind of condition would they be in? And it's pretty 130 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,679 Speaker 1: hard to say because as of now a diver can't 131 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: safely enter the hold of the ship. It's too rickety, 132 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: even though it's in really good condition um. And the 133 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: condition of the paintings themselves might really depend on how 134 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: they were packaged, because if they were stored in crates 135 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: in their frames, they probably would have been destroyed a 136 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: long time ago. They would be sitting in water since 137 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: the seventeen seventies. But here's the interesting part. If they 138 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: were cut from their frames and rolled up like the canvas, 139 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: some of them were panel paintings. So that wouldn't have 140 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: worked for them. But the canvas paintings were cut and 141 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: rolled up and then stored in a lead sealed box. 142 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: There's a slim chance that they would still be down 143 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: there in in reasonable condition. That would be pretty cool. 144 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: But even if they don't come up someday as miraculously 145 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: preserved master paintings, they'll still be treasures if anything survives. 146 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: I mean, it's Catherine's lost action. Pretty cool. So our 147 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: next ship, we're gonna switch gears a little bit and 148 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: go from a merchant ship with art to a pirate 149 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: ship with gold. Yeah. I feel like we've talked about 150 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: pirates a lot lately, but hopefully you're like us and 151 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,559 Speaker 1: you can never get enough of those pirate stories. Because 152 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: next we're going to talk about a ship called the Widow, 153 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: and the story of the Widowship wreck actually begins with 154 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: a bit of a love story involving a pirate named 155 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: Samuel Black Sam Bellamy. People really tried to pitch us 156 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 1: on that aspect of it, Yeah, they did. That was 157 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 1: requested several times I think on Facebook. Now. Bellamy was 158 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: originally from England and it said that he started as 159 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: a legit merchant sailor, not a pirate at all. But 160 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: then he moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in seventeen fifteen, 161 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: around age seven, to pursue a career as a New 162 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: England merchant captain. And when he got there, he fell 163 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: in love with a fifteen year old girl named Maria Hallett. Yeah, 164 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: but the trouble was, Maria's parents didn't really think that 165 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: much of Samuel Bellamy, especially his fortune. They thought he 166 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: was too poor to take care of Mariat, so they 167 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: refused to allow them to marry. So he decides he's 168 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: going to set off and make enough money so that 169 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: he can marry his girl. And he hears that there's 170 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: some Spanish rex off the coast of Florida, and he 171 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: went down to visit the ships and see if he 172 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: could hopefully get rich quick that way. Yeah, but that 173 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: was kind of a bust um. When he got down there, 174 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: he realized that the ship really didn't have anything of 175 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: worth that he could use to build his fortune. So 176 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: at that point he decided to turn to piracy, and 177 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: it turned out that he was pretty good at it. 178 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,199 Speaker 1: He learned the trade by joining the crew of successful 179 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: pirate Ben Hornegal, whose crew at one point included Edward 180 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: Teach also known as black Beard. We all know that name. 181 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: I think Hornegal is kind of a pirate mentor, it seemed. Yeah, 182 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: he actually mentored a bunch of famous pirates. But by 183 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: seventeen sixteen, Bellamy had actually overthrown him, so the student 184 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: had become the master, so to speak. He led a 185 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: mutiny against torn A Goold and took over as captain 186 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: of the Mary Anne, which was the name of the 187 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: ship that they were on. And in Bellamy's first year 188 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: of captain, the crew robbed more than fifties ships, so 189 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: just to give you an idea of how successfully was. 190 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: They were really good at this, and they also made 191 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 1: some acquisitions, including a ship called the Sultana, which I 192 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: think was also a popularly suggested ship. Yeah, definitely. But 193 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: capturing the Widow in February seventeen seventeen is said to 194 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: be kind of the pinnacle of Bellamy's career, and that's 195 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 1: because it was an enormous ship. I mean, it would 196 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:35,959 Speaker 1: be the pinnacle of anyone's career. It was a three 197 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,680 Speaker 1: hundred ton ship, hundred foot long galley, and it was 198 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: practically brand new too. It had been built in benin 199 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:46,839 Speaker 1: Africa only two years before Bellamy ran into it and 200 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: the Bahamas not literally stumbled upon it um And it 201 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: had been launched originally as a slave ship that was 202 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:57,200 Speaker 1: intended to work the triangle trade, you know, connecting Africa 203 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: West Indies England, and so had a lot of valuable 204 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: stuff on board, had spices and gems and ivory, and 205 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: a lot a whole lot of gold and silver, maybe 206 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: twenty to thirty thousand pounds sterling. So there you go, 207 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 1: that's a pirate ship. Definitely happened, Yeah, definitely worth going after. 208 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: And Bellamy did his ships chase the Widow for three 209 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: days before they finally captured it. And when he finally 210 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: got it, he moved all his stuff over there. He 211 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: moved like his cannon, all his things, his crew, and 212 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: made it his flagship. He gave the Widow's former captain, 213 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: Lawrence Prince, the loser in the situation, he gave him 214 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: the Sultana, so it's consolation prize there. And after this win, 215 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: the Widow and the Mary Anne started sailing north again 216 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: towards New England. Yeah, and so most people think he 217 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: was probably returning to Maria, or at least if you're 218 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: going to be a romantic about it, but we don't 219 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: know for sure, because a huge storm hit the Massachusetts 220 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: coast on April seventeen, seventeen, just as the Widow was 221 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: sailing into Cape Cod Yeah, and it was pretty bad. 222 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: Wind gusts topped seventy miles an hour, and the seas 223 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: rose to something like thirty feet. The ship was in 224 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: sight of the beach, but it was trapped in the 225 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: surf zone, so it got slammed into a sandbar and 226 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: it began to break apart. The ship was entirely split 227 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: in half at one point finally due to the wind 228 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: and really large waves, and so of a crew of 229 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 1: a hundred and forty six, only two men survived in 230 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,440 Speaker 1: the end, and Bellamy was not one of them. Well, 231 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 1: and the two guys who survived didn't have a great 232 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: deal either when they came out of it. One of them, 233 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 1: Thomas Davis, who is a Welshman, was tried as a 234 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: pirate in Boston, although it is through him that we 235 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: have this story. The other, John Julian, managed to escape. 236 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 1: But it is your Davis's testimony that we learned how 237 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: much booty was aboard the Widow. The bulk of it's 238 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: never recovered too, so for a long time it was 239 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: kind of a a treasure site for a lot of Yeah. 240 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: And luckily a cryptographer at the time noted the exact 241 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: location of the shipwreck, so in two a Cape cod 242 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: diver named Barry Clifford was able to use that crtographer's map, 243 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 1: his journal, and his letters to search for the Widow, 244 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: and Clifford managed to find the shipwreck site in nineteen 245 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: eighty four, and since then he's led several expeditions and 246 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: recovered a lot of the ship's crowed. A lot of 247 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: it up, haven't they, Yeah, including cannons, coins, and probably 248 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 1: most significantly, at least in the beginning, a ship's bell 249 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: inscribed with the words the Widow Galley seventeen sixteen. Our 250 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: next shipwreck also features a pretty major relic that's also 251 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: a bell. It's the Edmund Fitzgerald and I have to 252 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: say this was probably the most requested ship of those seventies, 253 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,839 Speaker 1: something comments we mentioned on Facebook, oh without a doubt. 254 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: And I don't know if it's just because of the 255 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: Gordon Lightfoot song or because it's fairly recent, but this 256 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: shipwreck is definitely on a lot of our listeners minds, 257 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: and it's really a tragedy. And I mean maybe because 258 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,679 Speaker 1: it's a more recent shipwreck, so we have the radio 259 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: chatter and you know, you have a closer connection to 260 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: it all. But it's pretty sad. So before we talk 261 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 1: about the wreck, though, we're going to talk a little 262 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: bit about Lake Superior, which is where the ship went down. Yeah. 263 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world 264 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: in surface area. It's undred feet deep and three fifty 265 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: miles wide. It averages forty degrees fahrenheit year round, and 266 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: it's bigger than all the other Great Lakes combined. Yeah, 267 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: but the most dangerous part of Lake Superior is something 268 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: called the shipwreck coast. Not too surprising there, and the 269 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 1: only way to really escape the storms that brew up 270 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: on the lake is to enter Whitefish Bay and so 271 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: consequently Whitefish Point eight, which is other approach of the bay, 272 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: is littered with shipwrecks. Over two hundred years, three hundred 273 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: and fifty ships have sunk there, and the last of 274 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: these was the seven D twenty nine ft or freighter 275 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: Edmund Fitzgerald, which for thirteen years was the biggest ship 276 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: on the Great Lakes. Yeah, it's normal work was toting 277 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: or from Silver Bay, Minnesota to steel mills on the 278 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: Lower Lakes near Detroit. So on November nine five, the 279 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: ship left Superior, Wisconsin with twenty six thousand, one hundred 280 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: and sixteen long tons of tacon nite pellets, which is 281 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: basically processed iron ore. Yeah, but the weather got bad 282 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: really quickly, and so the captain, Ernest McSorley stayed close 283 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: to another freighter called the Arthur m Anderston, which was 284 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 1: captained by Bernie Cooper, and it was just the two ships, 285 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 1: we're gonna look out for each other, stay nearby for safety. 286 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: And so they headed towards the shelter of Whitefish Bay because, 287 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: as I said, the weather was getting worse and worse. 288 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: And as they passed by Cariboo Island, Cooper remembered seeing 289 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: the Edmund Fitzgerald get way way too close to the shoals, 290 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: risking scraping the bottom of the ship. But after that 291 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 1: he can't see the Edmund Fitzgerald anymore. The visibility conditions 292 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: are just completely gone. There's snow, their spray. I mean, 293 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: you can imagine what a great lake storm is probably like. Right. 294 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: So that afternoon McSorley radios to Cooper that his ship 295 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: was damaged and slowed down, asking to Anderson to stay 296 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,160 Speaker 1: with him for safety. Yeah, but there aren't too many 297 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 1: scary reports after that. It's it's not a report, like 298 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: the ship is thinking it's just some damage. The weather 299 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: keeps on getting worse though. Yeah. At about six a 300 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: monster wave comes down on the Anderson and the ship 301 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: kind of pops up and there's another hit, and I 302 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: think Captain Bernie Cooper describes it as sort of like 303 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: shaking off water like a wet dog. Yea his ship. 304 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: But then he also says, quote, I watched those two 305 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: waves head down the lake towards the Fitzgerald, and I 306 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:04,919 Speaker 1: think those were the two that sent him under because 307 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 1: the last radio contact that he has with mc sorley 308 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: is at seven ten and mcsorley's last words, where we 309 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: are holding our own still. It seems like they were 310 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: doing okay. The radar signal is lost at seven fifteen, 311 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 1: and at that point they start to get worried. And 312 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,199 Speaker 1: by the time the Anderson could venture back, you know, 313 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: um Bernie Cooper was in contact with the coast Guard. 314 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 1: By the time he could venture back, they could only 315 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: find two lifeboats, and it's unknown how exactly the ship 316 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: went down, whether it broke or capsized or nose dive, 317 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: but regardless all twenty nine on board died and nobodies 318 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:48,879 Speaker 1: were ever recovered. Though the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society 319 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: started dives and they did recover the bell as we mentioned, 320 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: leaving a memorial replica in its place, and as Sarah 321 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: mentioned also as we started the section, the Gordon Lightfoot's 322 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:01,680 Speaker 1: nineteen seven and six ballad The Wreck of the Edmund 323 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald made the wreck famous. It's pretty well known. So 324 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: for our next ship, we're gonna go back a little bit. 325 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: This was another popular suggestion, probably because it has some 326 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:16,879 Speaker 1: connections to Henry the Eighth The Mary Rose. Yeah, and 327 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: this one was actually discovered a couple of different times 328 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: over the years. For example, in eighteen thirty six, of 329 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,640 Speaker 1: fisherman fishing in the Silted Sea off of Portsmith caught 330 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,119 Speaker 1: his gear on something, and lucky for him, an early 331 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: diver named John Deane was also working nearby, diving at 332 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: the site of the wrecked Royal George. So the fisherman 333 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: offers Dean half of whatever his gear was snagged on 334 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: if he could help him free it. So Dean finds 335 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: a piece of timber sticking out from the sea floor. 336 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: Then he finds a bronze gun and it's the Mary Rose, 337 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: Henry the Eighth's one time flagship. Yeah. So Dean excavates 338 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: the site for a few years and pulls up bronze 339 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: and iron cannons and small artifacts, and then the whole 340 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: thing is largely forgotten. You wouldn't think that Henry the 341 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 1: Eight's flagship would would go that way. It seems like 342 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: an odd thing to just have slip your mind. Yeah, 343 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: that's what basically happens, though, until the late nineteen sixties, 344 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:15,639 Speaker 1: when a man named Alexander McKee takes an interest in 345 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 1: the wreck and starts recruiting people with access to side 346 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: skin sonar of course, to check out the site, and 347 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:26,680 Speaker 1: over the next few years, nineteen thousand artifacts are recovered, 348 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: and by two the ship was actually raised, which was 349 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: a huge international news story. It's installed in a museum today. 350 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: But the really interesting thing about the Mary Roses because 351 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: it did sink so quickly, unfortunately the crew four hundred 352 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: to five hundred people on board were killed. It's a 353 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: really slice of life for for tutor time. Yeah, you 354 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: can see the cuts of meat that sailors ate, the 355 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: plates that they ate off of, and how they distinguished 356 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: their belongings with personal markings, even if they were illiterate. 357 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: So really fascinating. Yeah, so it's interesting in that way, 358 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,640 Speaker 1: but it's also just a really important ship. It's not 359 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:10,160 Speaker 1: just because it's preserved and we have all of these 360 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: artifacts from it. It is of a lot of importance 361 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 1: historically too. So in fifteen o nine, a teenage Henry 362 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: the Eighth inherits the throne from his father, and his 363 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 1: father's left him a modest navy for the time. There 364 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: are five ships. I know that sounds ridiculously small, but 365 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 1: they would have been supplemented with rented vessels, and of 366 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:35,359 Speaker 1: course you have all your aristocracy aristocratic buddies who can 367 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: loan you your ships when you need it too. But 368 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: still Henry the Eighth is thinking that he's got a 369 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: beef up his navy, because the French navy is quite formidable. Yeah. 370 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: So Henry commissions a couple of modern carvel whole ships 371 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: built for really heavy waterline guns. One is the Peter 372 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: Promegranate and the other is the Mary Rose, named for 373 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: his favorite sister. Yeah. So during the First French War, 374 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,879 Speaker 1: the mary Rose is Henry's flagship, which means that it 375 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 1: would have carried the Lord High Admiral. And during the 376 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: Second French War the mary Rose is the vice flagship, 377 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: so very important. It's it's really at the top of 378 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: its game. And in seven and in fifteen thirty six 379 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 1: again it goes through major refits, the second of which 380 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,360 Speaker 1: probably added considerably to its weight, probably added some some 381 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,919 Speaker 1: guns and made it a lot heavier. But by it 382 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: was definitely ready to fight in the Third French War, 383 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,400 Speaker 1: and that was good because the French fleet already vastly 384 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 1: outnumbered the English I think it was something like two 385 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 1: hundred ships to eighty, and they were heading across the 386 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: Channel to engage the Brits somewhere between the Isle of 387 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: Wight and mainland England. So early during the battle on 388 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,679 Speaker 1: July nineteenth, something goes wrong for the mary Rose. It 389 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,119 Speaker 1: keels over and water starts to pour in through her 390 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: gun ports, and before anyone can do a thing, the 391 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: ship just sinks, just like that, and only a few 392 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: survivors make it out, mostly the people who were up 393 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: in the sails and and well above the top of 394 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 1: the ship, So what happened. For a long time, historians 395 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: have chalked up the sinking to some combination of wind 396 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: and tied and handling air, but the French have long 397 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: assumed that they were responsible for sinking the ship, and 398 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 1: in two thousand nine some new research came out that 399 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 1: suggesting might have been right. Yeah. University of Portsmith the 400 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: geographer Dominic Fontana used geographical information systems technology data from 401 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:39,439 Speaker 1: the recovery, tidal current patterns, and skeletal remains to hypothesize 402 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,400 Speaker 1: that a French cannonball hit the ship, filling the hole 403 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,359 Speaker 1: with water, and that that is what happened. So the 404 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: ship after that point likely maneuvered so that it's broadside 405 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: face to the French they could fight back, shifting the 406 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: water and ultimately causing the ship to capsize. Yeah. But 407 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,440 Speaker 1: the really interesting thing about this is Fontana thinks that 408 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: people watching on shore would not have known that a 409 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 1: cannon hit the ship, and the whole thing could have 410 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 1: been covered up with a tutor government conspiracy because it 411 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: would be better to to blame it on your own 412 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,840 Speaker 1: guys or some kind of handling air, weather or tides 413 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: than to admit. Yeah, Francis E sonchor ship. Yeah, that 414 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: still fascinates me, the fact that you'd rather make a mistake, 415 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: and conveniently enough, that ties us into our final entry 416 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:37,479 Speaker 1: for this list, where there's also a little bit of 417 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: a scandal, a government scandal involving the whole thing. Yeah, 418 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: in this case, what happened after the shipwreck was so 419 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 1: politically charged and just kind of tragic and horrifying. It 420 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: was almost more famous than the shipwreck itself. So the 421 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 1: story starts during the Bourbon restoration. You may remember that 422 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: from our recent Furman series. Yeah, definitely. Um Napoleon was 423 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 1: in exile, Louis the eighteenth was the new king of France, 424 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: and the French Forget Medusa was on its way to Africa, 425 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: transporting soldiers and also official passengers to re establish the 426 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: French colony at Senegal. Even the newly appointed governor, Colonel 427 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 1: Julian Schmaltz, was on board. So in July second, eighteen sixteen, 428 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,680 Speaker 1: the ship ran aground off the west coast of Africa, 429 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 1: and it's generally accepted that incompetent seamanship was what got 430 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 1: the Medusa into trouble in the first place. The ship's 431 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,200 Speaker 1: captain hadn't served on a friendship for twenty years prior 432 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,679 Speaker 1: to this this journey. He was an aristocrat, he was 433 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,920 Speaker 1: recently returned from exile, and it said that he got 434 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: the gig because he was pro Bourbon, and the king's 435 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,440 Speaker 1: ministers were obviously looking to put those kind of guys 436 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,359 Speaker 1: in power and get rid of anyone who'd served under Napoleon. 437 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: Maybe a bad move in the case of military stuff, 438 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: I'm not sure. But after the ship ran aground, they 439 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: tried to refloat the do so over the next couple 440 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,400 Speaker 1: of days, but they didn't have any luck, so they 441 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: moved on to Plan B because they really wanted to 442 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 1: keep going to Senegal. It was still a couple hundred 443 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 1: miles to the south of them, so they were looking 444 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: for anything they could do here. Yeah, and this decidedly 445 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: shady Plan B they came up with involved emptying out 446 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: about two fifty passengers into six lifeboats and putting the 447 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 1: rest on this raft that they made out of spars 448 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: and timber lashed together. It was about a hundred and 449 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: forty nine men and one woman who ended up on 450 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: the raft, mostly ordinary soldiers and a few low ranking 451 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: officers and civilians. And this raft it was it was 452 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: fairly large. It was about yeah, it was about twenty 453 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,919 Speaker 1: long by seven wide, which doesn't sound large enough to 454 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: hold a hundred and fifty people, but it's pretty big, 455 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: substantial at least. It had a mast and a sail 456 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: and a small deck raised in the center. And the 457 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: intention here was that the other boats would tow the 458 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 1: raft to safety the two hundred miles that they were going, 459 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,199 Speaker 1: But it became apparent pretty soon that that was not 460 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 1: going to work out. The raff was slowing the other 461 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: boats down. It kind of looked rickety like it might 462 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,800 Speaker 1: fall apart. So the tow ropes were deliberately cut and 463 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,919 Speaker 1: the people on the raft were just left there stranded 464 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:18,680 Speaker 1: with only a few provisions, no navigational equipment. This sad 465 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: little sale. They were out of luck, and the situation 466 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 1: from there deteriorated really quickly. By the second day or so, 467 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,439 Speaker 1: there was a mutiny and hand to hand fighting that 468 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: resulted in about sixty deaths. By the next morning, we 469 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 1: were discussing this, we thought the mutiny happened really fast, 470 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 1: like things got bad really really fast. Yeah, i mean, 471 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: I'm thinking just day. Yeah, maybe just desperation being out 472 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: there in the hot sun. I think from things I've read, 473 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: they just went kind of batty. But yeah, it happened 474 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: very fast. Bodies were dumped overboard, and more fighting took 475 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 1: others out soon after that. So from there things only 476 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,840 Speaker 1: got worse. Supplies ran out, people had to start drinking 477 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,000 Speaker 1: their own urine. Some people were badly injured when their 478 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,880 Speaker 1: limbs got caught between shifting spars, and they threw themselves overboard. 479 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: Didn't want to be eaten because by the fourth day 480 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: all the survivors were practicing cannibalism, and meat was cut 481 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 1: from corpses and dried on the mast before it was eaten, 482 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: And by the eighth day, the fittest had taken to 483 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,159 Speaker 1: killing the weakest by throwing them overboard to extend the 484 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: remaining provisions that they had. I believe that's how the 485 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,920 Speaker 1: one woman died. I think she was thrown overboard. Gosh. So, 486 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,479 Speaker 1: after about thirteen days total, the survivors were found and 487 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,640 Speaker 1: rescued by another ship in the Medusa Convoy, but by 488 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: that point there were only fifteen men left. Five of 489 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: them died pretty soon after, and two of the remaining 490 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: ten on Race Avigny and Alexandra Courriard wrote an account 491 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: of what happened and it was published in eighteen seventeen. 492 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:55,200 Speaker 1: That was very bad press for the Bourbon Restoration definitely 493 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,879 Speaker 1: became this huge scandal and increased tensions between the Liberal 494 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,959 Speaker 1: and the Royalist factions. And um, I believe that the 495 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: Royalist factions had to do some basically cover up damage control, 496 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: I think is more accurate than cover up. They couldn't 497 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: cover up the situation that had happened, but I think 498 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: they did try to, you know, pin the blame on 499 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: certain parties and try to manage it from that that standpoint. 500 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: But most famously, this inspired Tadore Jericho's masterpiece, The Raft 501 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: of the Medusa in eighteen nineteen, and we were talking 502 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,200 Speaker 1: a little bit about that before. I mean, it's such 503 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: a recognizable painting. I'm sure probably all of you have 504 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: seen it and maybe just not known that it was 505 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: based on a real I never knew the story behind 506 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: it until today. So it's pretty interesting piece of art 507 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: history knowledge. And it wraps up this podcast nicely too, 508 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 1: I'd say, it really does. I mean a full circle. Yeah, 509 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: come full circle with something that you can look at 510 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: now and compare to the story, and um that's true 511 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: of a couple of cases like the Widow. There's a 512 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: traveling exhibition going on of some of the finds from 513 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,080 Speaker 1: that shipwrecks and Mary Rose I mentioned there is the 514 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:04,120 Speaker 1: whole museum devoted to that and actually the Edmund Fitzderal too. 515 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 1: There's a Great Lakes Maritime Museum with exhibits on the 516 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: Edmund fits d. Thanks so much for joining us on 517 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 1: this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 518 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or a Facebook U 519 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 1: r L or something similar over the course of the show, 520 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: that could be obsolete now. Our current email address is 521 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. Our old 522 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: health stuff works email address no longer works, and you 523 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: can find us all over social media at missed in 524 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: History and you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, 525 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the I heart Radio app, and wherever else 526 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:51,040 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Stuff you missed in History Class 527 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts 528 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 529 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.