Last Voyage of the Merchant Royal
One of the richest and most sought-after shipwreck treasures still waits to be discovered on the seafloor, somewhere near the mouth of the English Channel. The fabled cargo of the Merchant Royal, lost when the leaking ship went down on a stormy September night in 1641, sits amid the ruins of the ship?s hull, scattered cannon, and the precious artifacts of a forgotten age ? until the day when at last marine archaeologists finally uncover this treasure trove of knowledge and riches.
Wooden chests held perhaps more than half a million Spanish silver pesos, 500 heavy bars of gold and thick ingots of silver, which were stamped with the initials of the master assayers at New World refineries, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and pearls by the hundreds, and heavy pieces of jewelry set with precious stones. Lost at sea, this treasure is the sum of the real-world mound of riches that lies somewhere amid the decaying ruins of the Merchant Royal.
Merchants were ruined, fortunes wiped out, and families destroyed when the great cargo of the Merchant Royal sank to the sea bottom on Sept. 23, 1641. It is impossible to estimate what the cargo today might be worth ? some of its unique examples of the rarest coins or finest jewelry may literally be priceless now.
In 1637, merchant-adventurer Capt. John Limbrey sailed from Plymouth, England, for Spain and points beyond on the Merchant Royal.He had been hired on charter for a period of 21 months from a group of prominent English owners. More than two years after that charter had expired, nearing his homeland with a magnate?s fortune as rewards of epic trading voyages, Limbrey barely escaped with but his life as the ship literally sank beneath him.
A well-established merchant in the sometimes-dangerous business of trading between England and Spain, Limbrey took advantage of a rare span of years when Great Britain stood aloof from the wars ravaging the whole of the European continent to offer his ?neutral? ship for the transport of wealth, supplies, arms and soldiers to the various theaters of war. It was safer in those years to hire Englishmen than for Spain, France or Holland to risk their own ships, and the seafarers of Great Britain grew fat on that business.
Spain made good use of Limbrey?s enterprising spirit. The Spanish government hired Limbrey to transport troops, supplies, arms and specie between the peninsula and Spanish-governed ports in Italy or friendly ports in Portugal. He combined those voyages with trading stops of his own, including one illegal call in southern France to take on a cargo of prized laces and linens ? forbidden goods in Spain, which was at war with France, but most desired by the grandees and their ladies.
In 1639, Limbrey and his English sailors temporarily adopted Spanish names, re-christened their vessel the San Jorge (or St. George), and sailed across the Atlantic as part of the armed escort for the annual treasure fleet. They returned to Spain in 1640, after many adventures among the proud Catholic colonial Spanish, who despised the English Protestants but also willingly traded with them.
On the return voyage, Limbrey came close to disaster. Nearing the Spanish port of Cadiz, the Merchant Royal sprung a plank. Water flooded her hold, and the heavily laden ship barely made it safely to dock.
Now more than year overdue to return to England, the Merchant Royal was held up until her hull might be repaired and Limbrey could resolve his business affairs. The next trading voyage he intended to make in the Merchant Royal was to be his last under the charter, and his destination was the comfort of his homeland -- that ?Scept?red Isle? of England. Capt. Limbrey saw to it that when the ship at last set sail for home, it would be a profitable voyage transporting not only his own wealth and rich cargo of goods, but also gold, gems, chests of silver, and other fineries for British and Flemish merchants.
Among those consignments was a freight of 60 chests of silver coins and bullions from the Spanish banking house of Escuazola. Research indicates this financial firm, also Spain?s agents for the rich and powerful European banking house of Fugger, apparently intended the money to redeem bills of exchange in Flanders ? a kind of ?inter-bank transfer? of money between two private interests. The Dover Merchant was available to accompany Limbrey?s ship and its rich cargo when the two vessels departed for England.
Repaired and apparently in sound condition, Merchant Royal and her companion ship, the Dover Merchant, set sail from Cadiz in mid-September.
Dates for these events are confusing ? Spain at the time used the ?Gregorian calendar? employed now by most Western nations, but England clung stubbornly to the ?Julian? calendar first established by Julius Caesar. The Spanish were 10 days ahead of England?s calendar ? so while the English say this ship sank on ?September 23, 1641,? the Spanish date of the loss was ?October 6, 1641.? Similarly, one set of records says the ship set sail after Sept. 19, 1641 ? in Spain ? but to the English, that date was Sept. 9, 1641.
Some days passed as the two ships coursed out into the Atlantic Ocean, then, according to practice of the time, bore to the northeast toward the mouth of the English Channel. As the ships sailed on, the Dover Merchant decided to follow a different course between Ushant on the French coast and the Scilly Isles to the southwest of Great Britain. As the Merchant Royal sailed on alone before the mouth of the English Channel, the disaster began. [disaster struck?]
As seas rose before an approaching storm, the Merchant Royal again sprung a plank. For hours her crew labored to pump water from her hold. Then the pump chains broke. The ship began to labor and settle deeper. Some of the men and passengers in terror took the ship?s longboat, abandoning Limbrey and others still struggling to save their vessel. But adrift without sails or oars, the men in the longboat could not escape either.
Alerted by the firing of the Merchant Royal?s cannon, one after another in the recognized distress signal of the day, the Dover Merchant rejoined her sinking companion. Appearing from the stormy darkness, she rescued all but some seven sailors, who drowned attempting to loot the treasure.
Loss of the ship made news throughout maritime Europe. From the official London Gazette to the financial paper Mercurische Courant in Amsterdam, the reports alerted horrified merchants and financiers, who had expected to receive their jewels, silver, gold, laces and spices. Woodcuts depicted the last labors of the sinking vessel. An enterprising London printer threw together details from the newspapers, rumors on the street and some third-hand versions of survivors? reports to create a best-selling pamphlet, ?Sad News from the Sea.? It was a combination of fact and fiction, but it made for a popular thriller in a country whose national life revolved around ships and sailors.
Dulled now with the seabed?s silt and the encrustations of almost five centuries? deposits, the gems, jewelry, blackened silver bars and coins, and gleaming golden treasure of the Merchant Royal beckon. The wealth of knowledge that archaeologists and historians will realize when at last the wreck is found may be more priceless than the rich cargo recovered, but the treasure alone could easily be worth hundreds of millions of dollars ? or more.
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