Illegal slave trader, Manilla Shipwreck site, Isles of Scilly.
Вставка
- Опубліковано 20 лип 2022
- In 1972 a wreck was discovered out toward the Western Rocks on the Isles of Scilly that became well known on the islands for having part of its cargo as small bronze artefacts on board known as Manillas.
These Manillas were used in Africa as a kind of currancy, and for a long time were known to be associated with the slave trade.
Quite early on divers made the assumption that the wreck site they had found was that of the Douro, which was wrecked somewhere in this area in 1843.
However in more recent years local Divers including Todd Stevens have another theory, that the wreck site which has been known all this years could actually be that of another wreck called the Custos, which was also known to have sunk in this area in 1856.
In this video, we explain the history of both wrecks, then take a dive on the site to see what remains, before having a good chat with Todd out on his boat about what he thinks of the site and his theorys.
As per UK maritime law, all items raised are being reported to the UK "Receiver of Wreck" who deal with wreck and salvage material brought to the surface.
Hope you have enjoyed this video, don't forget to subscribe for more videos.
Ben - Розваги
The only thing I'd like to add to this intriguing wreck story is that after thinking about it there is not yet any evidence that this wreck is in fact an illegal slaver. It is possible that after the slave trade ended in the Uk that other countries continued to trade with africa for slaves and that the currency remained as manillas for years after the abolition of slavery here. So to keep on supplying manillas was not illegal in itself as the africans would not stop wanting them even though one country stopped buying slaves with them but bought other goods instead. The currency is just that-currency and nothing more. Just a thought I had today Ben that should be noted.
Thanks for this vid Ben, Great you are activily going out with Todd and capturing his genuine reactions, experiences and knowledge on these Shipwrecks. I don't know Todd but seems like a legend in diving in the Isles of Scilly. Its people like Todd which have collected and research shipwreck information which ultimately enriches our knowledge on Maritime heritage. Keep up the vids 👍🏻😃👍🏻
Cheers yes he’s certainly the man in the know over there, always a bit of fun going over and diving with him.
All caught up again now making videos I need to get out and film some more !
That was another interesting dive. Love the historical detective work.
Cheers I was a bit limited with that one as I only had one day to film the lot and one dive to find something so the pressure was on ! Most of the diving ones take a couple of visits /days to get the right shots.
Good job Ben
Another great vid mate,very interesting,good finds 👍
Cheers 👍
Great video Ben. Looked like you had some good weather and relatively good sea conditions down at Bishops. The only time I had the opportunity to go down there the sea was mirror calm and you could get really close to the Western Rocks and Rosevear, where the lighthouse builders lived. That tide current looked very strong - brings home just how dangerous the sea is around there!
Saw a UA-cam video of 1982 dive on the Torrey Canyon on the Scilly Memories channel. Have you ever dived on it?
Cheers , I have dived the seven stones a few times , we spent a week diving the deeper wrecks around it in 2012 ! But never done the torrey canyon ! Bet there’s a lot of steel down there still
@@BenoCam That area is a bit of a graveyard for ships - must have been some interesting dives. Yes the dive in '82 was only 15 years after it went down and the marine life had started to cover it - what it's like now another 40 years on would be interesting to see but the Torrey Canyon always has such negative vibes for Cornwall. It was a huge tanker so a lot of metal - broken into 3 sections. As a teenager we went on holiday down to Penzance just 3 months after the disaster in late June '67 (and then moved down to live there in '68) and in many ways there was more environmental damage from the detergent they sprayed than the oil! No seaweed at all in many parts of Mounts Bay.
Thank you Ben for this vid.
How can I get one of those blue beads?
And with this dry spell are you going down any mines soon?
Best way of getting a blue bead is get yourself some diving gear ! 🤣
Hopefully mines soon. Been so busy with everything else it’s been tricky fitting everything in. Always seems strange going underground on a lovely hot summers day.
Best way of getting a blue bead is get yourself some diving gear ! 🤣
Hopefully mines soon. Been so busy with everything else it’s been tricky fitting everything in. Always seems strange going underground on a lovely hot summers day.
Here is some info on Manillas. They were sent to Portugal
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manilla_(money)
Interestingly if you were caught with slaves you would normally be thrown in the sea, the British captains got money for every freed slave. But nothing for the slavers xx though this was done mid Atlantic probably not of coast of cornwall lol