H.M.S
DeBraak
Ghostly apparitions of the ship under sail, a
guardian water witch protecting the site from discovery, and
the fabled wealth of millions of dollars of gold aboard are
stories forming part of the many legends, traditions, and myths
surrounding the ship and its tragic loss nearly 200 years ago
in 1798. This is but a small part that has secured the DeBraak
is prominent place in the Maritime history and lore of the
Delaware Coast.
The origins of the cutter
DeBraak (Dutch for "The Beagle") are obscure.
Although it was long believed that she was Dutch-built,
analysis of the hull suggests that she was probably built in
Britain. During the 1780s, she sailed against England under the
Dutch flag, operating with a Mediterranean squadron out of
Toulon, France. In 1793, she took part in the defense of
Willemstad, uraßao, against a French Revolutionary army, and at
the end of 1794, De
Braak was
ordered to escort a convoy of East Indiamen to Batavia. Not
realizing that their country was again at war with England, the
Dutch put into Falmouth where the twenty-four merchantmen and
six warships were seized.
Brought into the Royal Navy as HM
Sloop-of-War Braak, the cutter was re-rigged as a brig and
rearmed with sixteen 24-pound carronades. She entered service
under Captain James Drew on June 13, 1797, and remained on duty
until dismasted in a storm at the end of the year. Upon her
return to service in February 1798,
Braak
joined a convoy bound
for the Virginia Capes, but on April 2, off the Azores,
she was separated from the other ships. At the end of the
month, she captured a Spanish ship worth £160,000 in
prize money and on May 25, Captain Drew put into Delaware
Bay. Shortly after a pilot boarded off Cape Henlopen, "a
sudden flaw of wind" capsized the DeBraak and she sank
with the loss of thirty-five of her crew, including Drew,
and twelve Spanish prisoners.
Over the years,
De
Braak's seven-week
solo cruise and the certain fact that she had captured one
valuable prize became encrusted with myth. Over the years more
than a dozen individuals and groups attempted to find the ship,
and by the 1980s estimates of the value of the treasure aboard
the humble convoy escort exceeded $500 million. Success of a
sort finally came in 1984 when Harvey Harrington's Sub-Sal,
Inc., raised a cannon, an anchor, and a ship's bell bearing the
name "La Patrocle." Sub-Sal became legal custodian of the wreck
on behalf of the U.S. District Court and with a one-year lease
began working round-the-clock to retrieve as much as possible
from the site. With almost total disregard for archaeological
practice, divers tagged a portion of what they recovered and
disposed of anything they considered worthless, including human
remains, a rare stove, and objects too small to warrant their
consideration.
In 1985, Sub-Sal was taken over
by a New Hampshire investment group led by L. John Davidson.
The state of Delaware began to take a more active interest in
the project and assigned State personnel to tag retrieved
artifacts, which ultimately included 26,000 items ranging from
ship fittings, weapons, and ammunition to toothbrushes, combs,
dominoes, a syringe, compasses and dividers, a mahogany
telescope, an octant, a sink, 150 shoes, a sailor's "Monmouth"
hat, three anchors, storage vessels, and hundreds of specimens
of organic foodstuffs including peas, corn, and
beans. The DeBraak is now
owned by the State of
Delaware.
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