Hurricane Gloria discovers 17th century shipwreck

The wreck of an unknown ship, tentatively identified as dating back to the 17th century, has been discovered in the coastal waters of Salou, Spain. The find was exposed by Hurricane Gloria and is currently being examined by Spanish archaeologists.

Of course, the exact location of the wreck was not given, but from the available information it appears that it is located at a depth of only 7 metres. In addition to the remains of a wooden vessel, some armament in the form of two cannons was also found, which may suggest that we are dealing with the wreck of a warship.

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The wreck was discovered shortly after the hurricane passed by an accidental diver, making it clear that its remains must have rested for years buried under the sand. The discoverer notified Centro de Arqueología Subacuática de Catalunya (CASC), the research unit of the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia.

The CASC archaeologists were very surprised by their discovery. However, it was not about what they found at the bottom. The reason was that the wreck was not listed in any archaeological records. So they quickly realised that the find was virgin and had never been explored in any way before.

After learning the location of the ship and making the first dive, we began to catalogue all the elements found on the site. The first dive made it possible to photograph and document all the remains found and to start looking for the year, name and reason for the sinking, ” said Rut Geli, head of the Girona-based Archaeological Centre

As far as is known, there are no plans to excavate any items found on the bottom.

The priority of the Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya is to keep the finds in their place, and only when there is a risk of them disappearing due to inclement weather or being looted do we take them out of the water, explains Geli

Thanks to the hurricane, CASC also intervened on the Begur coast, where an anchor and boilers from a 19th century steamer, among other things, were found. Cannons thrown from land into the sea were also uncovered. Ammunition was found at L’Estartit, ranging from iron cannonballs to lead rifle bullets. It is therefore safe to say that the hurricane has given researchers a whole lot of work to do.

Photo: Centro de Arqueología Subacuática de Catalunya (CASC)