Posted on 09/22/2006 5:15:39 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
A stash of loot possibly stolen from the White House in the early 1800s is at the centre of an international dispute over who owns the bounty that now rests in a watery grave off the Nova Scotia coast.
A U.S. exploration company has laid claim to the bounty on what it suspects is the HMS Fantome, a navy brig that was loaded with goods British and Canadian soldiers made off with after ransacking the White House and Capitol buildings during the War of 1812.
The company, Sovereign Exploration Associates International Inc., has conducted dives on the site off Prospect, N.S., and planned to recover some of the thousands of coins and other historic artifacts it has seen on the ocean floor.
But the pursuit of the plunder was stalled recently when the British government claimed that it owns the famed naval vessel that went down in a fierce storm in November 1814.
"These two particular warships are under international law, considered property of the British government," Elizabeth Whiting, a spokesperson with the British High Commission, said yesterday in reference to the Fantome and HMS Tilbury, another wreck off Cape Breton.
"Anything on the ship would be British."
The British are arguing that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea gives them title to the Royal Navy warships and that the Nova Scotia government cannot hand out licences to companies hoping to dive on the sites.
Curtis Sprouse of Sovereign said his company is rejecting the claim that international law gives ownership to the British.
The Massachusetts company had applied for a special permit that would allow it to recover material from the site of the Fantome shipwreck, but it was rejected by the province when the British filed their objection.
The province issues the permits and licences under the Treasure Trove Act, a unique piece of legislation that allows people to dive on and recover material taken from historic shipwrecks.
Wendy Barnable, a spokesperson with the provincial Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, said the company's bid to obtain a permit was turned down because of Britain's opposition to the project.
Barnable said it's now up to Sovereign Exploration to consult with British officials to resolve the matter, adding that she wasn't aware of this happening in the province before.
Barnable said the company still holds a licence that allows it to dive on the site, but that it can't recover anything from it.
According to a preliminary report by Le Chameau Explorations Ltd., the company which holds the permits to explore the site, divers have already recovered cannon and musket shot, copper buttons bearing the Royal Navy symbol, pottery, tools, and ships' nails and bolts.
Divers also recovered copper sheathing, embossed with a distinctive English marking that indicates military or Crown property.
Under provincial law, a company can retain items that are deemed to be treasures, but must pay a 10 per cent royalty on them. Any artifacts recovered from a site must be handed over to the province.
Sovereign Exploration hasn't confirmed whether the vessel is the Fantome, but said recovered material fits the time frame and there is debris from several other vessels in the area.
The Fantome was leading a convoy of ships back to Halifax after British and Canadian troops routed their enemy, sending them fleeing while the invading army looted and then torched the president's house, the capital and all other public buildings.
The substantial haul was loaded on to a handful of boats that set sail for Halifax, a busy British garrison at the time.
The Fantome ran into a vicious storm on Nov. 24, 1814, and was thought to have gone down after accidentally heading into a shallow shoal.
John Wesley Chisholm, an independent filmmaker, said "once you leave the shore, and especially once you go underwater, the ocean is like the wild west of the 21st century."
ping
Will our great-great-great-great grandchildren find all the silverware (and W's) buried in the ruins at Chappaqua?
Ping.
bttt
Canada ping.
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
According to the Treaty of Ghent, the British are supposed to return seized property. The ship is property of the British government...they have a treaty obligation to return the contents to the United States government.
Well, give us all the loot first as a sign of good faith, and then we'll enter into negotiations for the rest.
You don't get the Treaty of Ghent quoted on many other internet forums. Isn't FR great?
De loot belongs to me country und not de scurvy limeys aarrrgghhh
Nice to see crime not paying, for once.
Gimme the loot first, and then we'll talk later about any peripheral issues.
Well, since the Brits "stole it" from US. Don't we have some claim to it?
I mean some of this stuff would be great in the Smithsonian?
It would make an excellent property/admiralty/international law exam question, I'll tell you that.
Thanks!
The British are arguing that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea gives them title to the Royal Navy warships and that the Nova Scotia government cannot hand out licences to companies hoping to dive on the sites. Curtis Sprouse of Sovereign said his company is rejecting the claim that international law gives ownership to the British.Oh, and while we're on the subject, centuries-old sunken Spanish treasure ships are from the Spanish Navy and property of Spain, and Roman Empire naval wrecks are the property of Italy, and...
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