Three 17th century shipwrecks authenticated in the Channel
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Discovered in 1990, the three wrecks identified off Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue belonged to a fleet of Louis XIV destroyed during a battle in 1692.
Three wrecks from a fleet of Louis XIV destroyed during a battle against an Anglo-Dutch alliance were authenticated off Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, on the east coast of the Manche department, the Ministry of Culture announced on Friday August 26.
“We are now certain that these are wrecks linked to the Battle of La Hougue”, which opposed the fleet of Louis XIV to the Anglo-Dutch fleet on May 29, 1692, explains Cécile Sauvage, archaeologist in the department of underwater and underwater archaeological research (Drassm). For this, the department has been carrying out since August 15 and until Tuesday August 30 an expertise campaign on the archaeological sites of Saint-Vaast, the researcher who is responsible for this mission told AFP.
In 1990, these three “possible wreckage” had been declared to the State by a diver, Christian Cardin, in a non-professional setting. “At the time, Christian Cardin had located them with a magnetometer and then he had sent divers who found wood. But the wrecks had not been appraised., specifies Cécile Sauvage. Until then only five of the twelve wrecks of this battle had been identified. They had also been located by Christian Cardin in 1985, then appraised between 1990 and 1995.
Fund further research
The three wrecks appraised this time by the Drassm are at an intermediate stage. “There is a wreck which is quite eroded: the wooden structures are quite damaged and we will not necessarily push its study further. The other two are buried under a meter of mud and therefore well preserved. There we made surveys but reduced. Accessing the entire wreck would require huge resources. It’s not done yet”specifies Cécile Sauvage. “It would be really relevant to go further to understand how the construction of vessels was set up under Louis XIV”adds the scientist.
With the expertise of the first five wrecks discovered, the scientists “had realized that there could be a big difference between what the archives say, the shipbuilding treaty edited by Colbert, and the practices”, continued Cécile Sauvage. You can also find personal objects that speak of life on board at the time, according to the scientist. The researcher hopes to find partners to fund further research. The General Council of La Manche had opened a maritime museum on theTatihou Island in 1992 to tell the story of the Battle of La Hougue.
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