Ships and Shipwrecks of the Late Tudor Dynasty
I am glad to announce the publication of Ships and Shipwrecks of the Late Tudor Dynasty.
The late Tudor era was a dramatic period in maritime history and the history of England and Western Europe, as sailors ventured far from shore seeking treasure and glory. This unique collection of logs and data includes unpublished narratives, maps of possible wreck sites, accounts of storms and battles, and lists of ship names and types, cargos, and crew compliments.
English ships plied the seas laden with precious spices, Spanish silver, and weapons for the fight against the Spanish Armada, with soldiers, explorers and colonists. At the same time trade ships from Germany, Poland, France, Holland and Italy headed to England with their wares. Many hardy souls and irreplaceable cargos went to the bottom. We have records and legends of some of these, but only hints and clues about other vessels that left port and never showed up again.
This book contains three parts.
Part I: Contains the only collection of logs and notes on ships related to England originally recorded in documents from 1547-1603.
Part II: Contains firsthand accounts of voyages, battle with Spain, storms, shipwrecks, and lost treasures, plus ship complements-crew and ordnance-of the English navy.
Part III: Contains the first and only comprehensive list of shipwrecks related to England in that period.
This publication is valuable for many reasons and certainly belongs in reference libraries of maritime history. References shared not just for the valuable cargos that may reside on some of these ships, but the knowledge gained if a wreck can be identified located with information contained in this book. Yes, of course there is still undiscovered Spanish gold and silver to be located and I sincerely hope the information I have accumulated from years of archival research helps to recover treasure, no matter what your definition of treasure may be.
Please, if a ship is located, honor and respect those brave men that went down with their ship.
Additional Information
These could be significant for several reasons: Primarily, they are certainly of historical significance. Many English ships have a well recorded history considering the era and the few surviving documents. Researching the lifespan of these ships in current databases now yields different and conflicting fates. The information recorded in the rare log and correspondence conflict with current records of the ships fates.
They also may be of importance for the artifacts they may still contain.
These are very obscure entries that do not even warrant mention in the index of the volumes under numerous search parameters. The log book of the admiral and correspondence from Brussels is very easily overlooked by individuals seeking that information. I have, at least to this point, been unable to locate these wrecks in current records of shipwrecks in and around the English Channel and England.
This information and 54 others has been eagerly anticipated and will be shared in The Ships and Shipwrecks of the Late Tudor Dynasty to be published soon by Algora Publishing.
Included in that publication will be $55 million in missing gold shipment of African gold from a castle on the Atlantic coast and the approximate location of the shipwreck.
