Lutine

, originally with 26 guns. This was ten years before the French Revolution ; on December 18 , 1793 , she became one of sixteen ships handed over to a British fleet under Vice Admiral Lord Hood at Toulon by French royalists. In 1795 , she was rebuilt as a ( Fifth-rate ) Frigate with 38 guns. She served thereafter in the North Sea , Blockading Amsterdam . She sank on October 9 , 1799 carrying a large cargo of gold, the majority of which remains unsalvaged.

SERVICE IN NORTHERN EUROPE

The loss of the Lutine occurred during the Second Coalition of the French Revolutionary Wars , in which an Anglo-Russian army landed in the Batavian Republic (now the Netherlands ), which had been occupied by the French since 1795 . Admiral Duncan had heavily defeated the Dutch fleet in 1797 at the Battle Of Camperdown and the remainder of the Dutch fleet was captured on August 30 , 1799 by the Duke Of York .

During this period the Lutine served as an escort, guiding transports in and out of the shoal waters around North Holland .

In October 1799 she was employed in carrying about £1,200,000 in Bullion and Coin from Yarmouth to Cuxhaven in order to provide Hamburg Bank s with Funds in order to prevent a Stock Market Crash and also, probably, for paying troops in North Holland. In the evening of October 9 , 1799 , during a heavy north-westerly Gale , the ship under Captain Lancelot Skynner, having made un-expected leeway, was drawn by the Tidal Stream flowing into the Waddenzee , onto a sandbank off the island of Terschelling , near Texel . There, she became a total loss. All but one of her 240-odd passengers and crew perished in the breaking seas.

The loss was reported by Captain Portlock Captain Portlock commanded the Sloop H.M.S. ''Arrow'', 28 guns, and H.M.S. ''Wolverine'', 12 guns, commander of the British squadron at Vlieland , who wrote to the Admiralty in London on October 10 :

Sir, It is with extreme pain that I have to state to you the melancholy fate of H.M.S.

The wind blowing strong from the NNW, and the lee tide coming on, rendered it impossible with Schowts schuits, local fishing vessels or other boats to go out to aid her until daylight in the morning, and at that time nothing was to be seen but parts of the wreck.

I shall use every endeavour to save what I can from the wreck, but from the situation she is lying in, I am afraid little will be recovered

Three officers, including Captain Skynner, were apparently buried in the Vlieland churchyard, and around two hundred others were buried in a mass grave near the Brandaris Lighthouse in Terschelling. No memorials mark these graves. A lake outside Terschelling is known today as the ''"Doodemanskisten"'' (dead men's coffins), allegedly because it is also close to the place from which the wood for the coffins originated; an alternative explanation is that the name is a corruption of ''"d'Earmeskisten"'', meaning a pauper's grave.

The failure of the gold to arrive precipitated the very crisis that it had been designed to prevent. Kindleberger, Charles P.: ''Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises'', ch.6. Wiley, 1978

THE SITE OF THE WRECK

The site of the wreck, the , during the Second Anglo-Dutch War , Admiral Holmes had managed to penetrate these shoals and start Holmes's Bonfire , surprising the Dutch who had considered the shoals impassable. The depth of water also constantly changes, and this has caused much of the difficulty in salvage attempts.

The Lutine was wrecked in a shallow channel called the IJzergat, which has now completely disappeared, between the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling. Immediately after the Lutine sank, the wreck began silting up, forcing an end to salvage attempts by 1804 . By chance, it was discovered in 1857 that the wreck was again uncovered, but covered again in 1859 . The wreck was probably partially uncovered between 1915 and 1916 , although no salvage was attempted because of the War .

THE GOLD

The gold was insured by Lloyd's Of London , which paid the claim in full. The underwriters therefore owned the gold under rights of Subrogation and later authorised attempts to Salvage it. However, because of the State Of War , the Dutch also laid claim to it as Booty .

Captain Portlock was instructed by the to report on the wreck, and F.P.Robbé, the Receiver on Terschelling, was authorised in December to begin salvage operations. All three parties had drawn attention to the difficulty of salvage due to the unfavourable position of the wreck and lateness of the year. At this point, the wreck was lying in approximately 25 feet (7.5 m.) of water.

In 1821 , Robbé's successor as Receiver at Terschelling, Pierre Eschauzier successfully petitioned King William I and by royal decree received the sole right ''to attempt the further salvage of the cargo of the English frigate, the'' Lutine, ''which foundered between Terrschelling and Vlieland in the year 1799, proceeding from London and bound for Hamburg, and having a very considerable capital on board, consisting of gold and silver coins, believed to amount in all to 20 million Dutch guilders.'' Van der Molen, S.J.: ''The Lutine Tresure'', page 66. Adlard Coles Ltd., 1970 In return, the state would receive half of all recoveries. Eschauzier and his heirs therefore became the owners of the wreck by royal decree and thus are known as the 'Decretal Salvors'.

Eschauzier's attempts spurred Lloyd's to approach the British government to defend their rights to the wreck. In as a token ''of our friendly sentiments towards the Kingdom of Great Britain, and by no means out of a conviction of England's right to any part of the aforementioned cargo''. Van der Molen, S.J.: ''The Lutine Tresure'', page 71. Adlard Coles Ltd., 1970 This share was subsequently ceded back to Lloyd's.

The gold was apparently stored in flimsy casks bound with weak iron hoops and the silver in casks with wooden hoops. Within a year of the wreck, these casks had largely disintegrated, and the sea had started to scatter and cover the wreck.

Lloyd's records were destroyed by fire in 1838 , and the actual amount of the gold lost is now unknown. In 1858 Lloyd's estimated the total value at £1,200,000, made up of both silver and gold. Despite extended operations, over £1,000,000 remains unsalved. An uncorroborated newspaper report in 1869 referred to the Dutch crown jewels being on board.

INITIAL SALVAGE ATTEMPTS

In August 1800 Robbé recovered a cask of seven gold bars, weighing 81 lb. (37 kg) and a small chest containing 4,606 Spanish Piastres . Over September 4-5, two small casks were recovered, one with its bottom stoved in, yielding twelve gold bars. The were also other, more minor, recoveries, making this year the most successful of all the salvage attempts; however, the expenses of the salvage were still greater than the recoveries by 3,241 guilders.

In 1801 , although recoveries were made, conditions were unfavourable and the wreck was already silted up. By 1804 Robbé reported: ''that the part of the wreck in which one is accustomed to find the precious metals has now been covered by a large piece of the side of the ship (which had previously been found hanging more or less at an angle), thus impeding the salvage work, which was otherwise possible.'' Van der Molen, S.J.: ''The Lutine Tresure'', page 60. Adlard Coles Ltd., 1970 Salvage attempts appear to have been given up at this point.

In 1814 , Pierre Eschauzier was allocated 300 guilders for salvage by the Dutch King and recovered ''8 Louis D'or and 7 Spanish piastres fished out of the wreck of the Lutine''. Van der Molen, S.J.: ''The Lutine Tresure'', page 63. Adlard Coles Ltd., 1970

In 1821 , Eschauzier put together a Syndicate with the intention of using a Diving Bell manned by ''amphibicque'' Englishmen. However, Mr. Rennie, the engineer died that year; in 1822 , the bell arrived at the end of June , but operations were frustrated by bad weather and silting-up of the wreck; at this stage the wreck was reckoned to be 3 feet (1 metre) under the sand. Although salvage attempts continued until 1829 , little was gained and the bell was sold on to the Dutch navy. In 1835 , the sandbank covering the ''Lutine'' shrunk and moved southwards, with the depth of water being 30-34 feet (9-10 m.) and further desultory attempts at salvage were made. Further attempts to raise capital were largely unsuccessful.

In (''helmduikers'') rather than bell divers (''klokduikers''). However, a large number of unauthorised salvors also displayed an interest, which led to the Dutch government to station a gunboat in the area. Over the course of the season approximately 20,000 guilders-worth of Specie was recovered.

The 1858 season was hampered by poor weather but yielded 32 gold bars and 66 silver bars. In 1859 it became apparent that the treasure had been stored towards the stern of the ship, and that the stern was lying on its side, with the starbord side uppermost and the port side sunk into the sand. This area, however, only gave up 4 gold bars, 1 silver bar, and over 3,500 piastres. By 1860 , the depth of the wreck had reached 45 feet (14 m.) and the quantity of salvage was declining. Nonetheless, over the four years salvage worth half a million guilders had been recovered: 41 gold bars, 64 silver bars, and 15,350 various coins, and the syndicate paid a 136% return.

OTHER SALVAGE

In . Another was offered to the Corporation Of London and is on display at the Guildhall, London . A final cannon was passed to the Lloyd's sports club in Essex . More are on display in Amsterdam 's Stedelijk Museum, and at least four are in Terschelling .

The two bower Anchor s, carried at the ship's bow, each weighing 3.8 tons (3,900 kilograms) were recovered and put on display in Amsterdam in 1913 . Consideration was given by Lloyd's to setting the anchors up as a monument behind the Royal Exchange in place of a statue to Sir Robert Peel , but this was not carried out and only the wooden stocks, marked ''Lutine'' were forwarded to Lloyd's.

THE LLOYD'S ACT, 1871

A brief history of the loss and salvage attempts is given in the Preamble to the Lloyd's Act, 1871 :

And whereas in or about the year 1799 a vessel of war of the Royal Navy, named the Lutine, was wrecked on the coast of Holland with a considerable amount of specie on board, insured by underwriters at Lloyd's, being members of the Society, and others, and Holland being then at war with this country the vessel and cargo were captured, and some years afterwards the King of the Netherlands authorized certain undertakers to attempt the further salvage of the cargo on the conditions (among others) that they should pay all expenses, and that one half of all that should be recovered should belong to them, and that the other half should go to the Government of the Netherlands, and subsequently the King of the Netherlands ceded to King George the Fourth on behalf of the Society of Lloyd's, the share in the cargo which had been so reserved to the Government of the Netherlands:

And whereas from time to time operations of salving from the wreck of the Lutine have been carried on, and a portion of the sum recovered, amounting to about twenty-five thousand pounds, is by virtue of the cession aforesaid in the custody or under the control of the Committee for managing the affairs of Lloyd's: {Link without Title}

And whereas it is expedient that the operations of salving from the wreck of the Lutine be continued, and that provision be made for the application in that behalf, as far as may be requisite, of money that may hereafter be received from those operations, and for the application to public or other purposes of the aforesaid sum of twenty-five thousand pounds, and of the unclaimed residue of money to be hereafter received as aforesaid {Link without Title}

The ownership of the remaining, unsalved, gold is vested in half shares between the 'decretal salvors' and the Society of Lloyd's, Lloyd's ownership being governed under the terms of the Lloyd's Act, 1871 , s.35:

:Salvage operations as to wreck of Lutine

The Society may from time to time do or join in doing all such lawful things as they think expedient with a view to further salving from the wreck of the Lutine, and hold, receive, and apply for that purpose so much of the money to be received by means of salving therefrom as they from time to time think fit, and the nett money produced thereby, and the said sum of twenty-five thousand pounds, shall be applied for purposes connected with shipping or marine insurance, according to a scheme to be prepared by the Society, and confirmed by Order of Her Majesty in Council, on the recommendation of the Board of Trade, after or subject to such public notice to claimants of any part of the money aforesaid to come in, and such investigation of claims, and any such barring of claims not made or not proved, and such reservation of rights (if any), as the Board of Trade think fit.

THE LUTINE BELL

The ship's and the last time it was rung to herald the return of an overdue ship was in 1989 .

During the World War II , the Nazi radio propagandist Lord Haw-Haw asserted that the bell was being rung continuously because of allied shipping losses during the Battle Of The Atlantic . In fact, the bell was rung once, with one ring, during the war, when the ''Bismark'' was sunk. ''Lloyd's Log'' magazine, March 1965, quoted in ''The Lutine Treasure'', qv., page 154

It is now rung for ceremonial purposes to commemorate disasters such as the 9/11 disaster, the Asian Tsunami , and the London Bombings , and is always rung at the start and end of the two minutes silence on Armistice Day .

The bell has hung in four successive Lloyd's Underwriting Rooms:

The Royal Exchange 1858 - 1928 ;

Lloyd's building in Leadenhall Street 1928 - 1958 ;

Lloyd's first Lime Street headquarters 1958 - 1986 ;

The present Lloyd's building in Lime Street since 1986 .

There is also a chair and table at Lloyd's made from the Rudder of the frigate. The rudder was salvaged on September 18 1858 . This furniture was previously in the Lloyd's writing room and was used by the Chairman of Lloyd's at the Annual General Meeting of members, but are now kept in the Old Library of the Lloyd's Building .

REFERENCE

FURTHER READING

Van Der Molen, S. J. ( 1970 ) ''The Lutine Treasure'' (ISBN 0229974821)

Kindleberger, Charles P. ( 1978 ) ''Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises'', ch.6. (ISBN 0-471-16192-6)

LINKS

Circumstances surrounding the wreck

History of salvage attempts

Information About

Lutine