Wreck Detectives

Page 4 of 6

• 1. The mystery of the M1
• 2. Pandora's bounty
• 3. Blackbeard's revenge
• 4. The lost fleet
• 5. Cromwell's ship
• 6. Find out more
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The lost fleet

In 1678, a fleet of French warships were dispatched to capture the Dutch colony at Curacao. It was under the command of Vice Admiral Jean D'Estrees whose flagship was called Le Terrible. As his fleet approached the island of Las Aves, which is a hundred miles off the coast of Venezuela, they were decoyed onto the island's reef by a small force of three Dutch ships. When the Admiral's ship hit the reef, he fired cannons as a warning to the ships behind. However, this signal was interpreted by the following ships that the Admiral was under attack. The other ships came rushing to his aid and onto the waiting reefs.

'The Admiral was one of the few to be rescued. '

On the 11th May 1678, the entire fleet of thirteen ships was lost because of the Admiral's eagerness to give battle. Five hundred sailors were drowned and over one thousand were marooned. The survivors found themselves on Las Aves where there was no fresh water. At the beginning, they were able to survive on barrels of wine and salted meats, but it wasn't long before their relief turned to despair and eventually death. The Admiral was one of the few to be rescued.

On the Admiral's map, the location of the large French warships and smaller vessels called Filibustiers are marked. Filibustiers is the French term for pirates. These pirates or buccaneers were part of the French fleet as Curacao would have been a rich prize for these pirates who were always on the lookout for rich pickings. The Admiral drew up a map of the wrecks and later returned to the scene to salvage the bronze cannons from the wrecks. Three hundred years later a team of divers went looking for the "Lost Fleet", using Admiral D'Estrees map. At the end of the search, they discovered the map is very accurate, but little remains of the vessels, only metal artefacts such as the cannons, lead shot and anchors have survived.

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Published: 2001-01-01