The missing gun - more news from Sierra Leone

Our adventure with a capital “P” has come to an end. Sierra Leone turned out to be very demanding – one can safely say that it is a place for tough boys. A collision with the so called third world left a mark on us for many years. The expeditions have been very successful only thanks to luck and incredible commitment of all members.

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The beginning of our adventure was not optimistic, problems with the compressor – capacitor failure, then the need to replace the electric motor with a combustion one – two trips to Freetown and three days taken by two people to solve the problem were not pleasant and were not included in the programme. Plus building an ejector to “vacuum” the bottom.

But after all, we have already taken apart more than one project! Enthusiasm, professionalism and a positive attitude to the task at hand helped all five of us to overcome such ‘minor’ problems as the lack of a compressor.

The team in the first stage divided into two groups worked like clockwork. Several days of combing the island with side scan sonar did not give us satisfactory results. We found only insignificant remains of most probably modern wrecks, so we concentrated on exploring the “Cannons’ Shipwreck”, as we called it, which had recently been found by the owner of a local “diving base”. The wreck had never been inventoried or properly explored.

Our guide claimed to find 20 cannons and three anchors. Our painstaking work led us to find 28 cannons and 5 anchors, as well as uncovering the date – 1762 on one of the cannons! We made a detailed sketch of the wreck site, precise drawings of the cannons and anchors. We found dozens of fragments of ceramics, fragments of 250-year-old bottles, bricks and lead sheeting. Thanks to meticulous measurements and photographic and film documentation, we may one day be able to find the name of the sunken ship. Our work will save this wreck not only from oblivion, but also from progressive destruction.

Sierra Leone is a poor and rootless country. People here still hunt rare tortoises and extremely valuable land animals – such as pangolins (which we have already blogged about) – for meat. After years of former slavery and recent wars, they also have no respect for the past. We found this out for ourselves one day while exploring a wreck.

When we went underwater to sketch the anchors, we noticed that a cannon lying near one of the anchors (the one with the date 1762) had simply… evaporated! Five metres deep was not enough to discourage the local thieves. During the night they pulled out an approximately 700-kilogram cannon! Terrifying and depressing. And the most depressing of all is that probably its remains, rusting in some hold, are now on their way to a smelter in India or Bangladesh. Grief? Yes. Pity? Enormous. Unfortunately, there is not even anyone to complain to. Sierra Leone has no Coast Guard, no Navy, not even a maritime emergency service. The only institution that can help protect this wreck is the local cacique (if he wants to…). We will also attempt to intervene with the Sierraleon branch of UNESCO.

Underwater looters are unfortunately very active in Sierra Leone. Leaving the island we saw on one of their small boats a ship’s engine and a large anchor pulled from a modern wreck. And then there was the exploration equipment – a paint compressor connected to a long garden hose, ending in a second stage breathing machine. This does not bode well for the long life of the underwater monuments… However, we keep our fingers crossed that UNESCO will take care and supervise this particular wreck site. It would be a great loss if the interests of a few wackos would stand above the protection of the remains of this once proud and magnificent warship.

And what next with our results? Now the results of the whole team’s hard work must be interpreted and analysed by experts – underwater archaeologists, historians, ceramologists. We are in contact with a group of wonderful scientists who are of great help to us. All this to find out much more about our “No Name Wreck”. Keep an eye on the blog, a trailer of the expedition film and information on the progress of the report will be released soon.

Source: Organizer Photo: AdventurePictures.eu