Sovereign Exploration Associates (fka SVXP)

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who this then James Cavan is a vice-president with Sovereign Exploration Associates International Inc. that was in it.

Crew seeks $30m in sunken treasure

Cape Breton shipwreck thought to hold gold coins

By Jennifer Taplin
The Daily News

HALIFAX - A dive team and a documentary film crew will scour the depths looking for the remains of HMS Tilbury this summer.

The ship went down in a hurricane in September 1757 off the coast of St. Esprit, Richmond Co. It was on its way to help the British attack the French fortress of Louisburg.

There were 500,000 Spanish pillar coins onboard that are worth about $58 each today.

James Cavan is a vice-president with Sovereign Exploration Associates International Inc., the American-based company that recently got the licence for the Tilbury site. They hold other shipwreck licences around Nova Scotia, including HMS Fantome.

He said if they were able to recover all the coins, the haul from the Tilbury would be worth almost $30 million.

"It was like they were going to the moon," said Cavan. "They left and they didn't know what they were going to encounter. So they carried significant coinage and equipment for surviving whatever they encountered. It wasn't like they could wire funds back."

But the coins on board aren't the only treasure. The company is joining forces with an American documentary filmmaker to record the history of the ship.

Cavan said they will announce the details of the relationship this week, but mentioned the filmmaker was nominated for a couple of Emmy awards and an Academy award.

A French team found the wreck in the late 1980s. They dug up cannon, musket shot, pieces of the ships bell, the anchor and 16 gold pieces and 430 pieces of silver.

As with many ship wrecks, the Tilbury has its own tragic story to tell. A warship with 60 cannon and 400 souls on board, the Tilbury was tied up waiting with the fleet for the coming attack on Louisburg.

On the night of Sept. 24, 1757, the Tilbury was pounded by wind and the sea, stirred up by a hurricane. Eventually, she broke and sank.

But help came from an unlikely source.

"Interestingly enough, people were saved off it by help from the French in Louisburg," said Cavan.

"Even in modern times, if there are warships battling, once one sinks - with the very rare exception of great war atrocities - the other one starts saving the downed sailors."

The French rescued 280 sailors and then imprisoned them. Of the 20 ships in the British fleet that night, only nine kept their masts.

A small ship, the Ferret, also sank. The other survivors were towed back to England.

TILBURY FACTS

- July 20, 1745 - The Tilbury, classed fourth rate, is launched from Portsmouth, England.

- August 1746: A large French convoy of merchant ships set sail for the West Indies, and a British fleet, including Tilbury, leaves Plymouth to intercept them.

- Oct.
14 1746: Before nightfall, six of the French ships have surrendered.

- October 1748: Tilbury is involved in the Battle of Havana.

- 1749: Arrives at Halifax.

- March 1757: Due to actions of the French against British settlements in North America, and particularly Nova Scotia, the British government decides to send a fleet to Halifax to join the army, with the purpose of attacking Louisburg.

- May 1757: Fifteen warships sail into Halifax Harbour, including Tilbury. Another five joined them shortly afterwards.

- September 1757: The attack on Louisburg is put off and the fleet anchors in wait. The Tilbury and the Ferret sink during a hurricane.

- Source: Rootsweb.com