DNA Testing and the Mystery of the 18th Century Shipwrecked Bone-Setter

A fascinating story from Wales. Sometime between 1743 and 1745, a smuggler from  Llanfairynghornwy on  the isle of Anglesey, rescued two boys, in stormy seas in the middle of the night – the only survivors of an apparent shipwreck. Both boys had … Continue reading

On the Trail of the Pirate Blackbeard and the Queen Anne’s Revenge

The wreck of the pirate Blackbeard‘s Queen Anne’s Revenge, which sank in 1718, was believed to be discovered in 1996.   After 15 years of excavation, the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina Maritime Museum announced today that they had confirmed that … Continue reading

The World’s Oldest Champagne Sells at Auction

Last  July we posted about divers finding intact bottles of champagne, believed to date from between 1782 and 1788, in the hold of a shipwreck on the Baltic seabed.   In November, a bottle of the “world’s oldest champagne” was opened and tasted by … Continue reading

Tragedy on Christmas Island – Asylum Seekers Die in Shipwreck

A horrific story from Australia’s Christmas Island where a boat carrying asylum-seekers believed to be from Iraq and Iran broke up in rough after striking rocks offshore.  Forty two people were been rescued and twenty seven have been confirmed dead, though that … Continue reading