These wrecks had been located several decades ago but had not yet been the subject of a thorough search.
Three wrecks of a fleet of Louis XIV annihilated during a battle against an Anglo-Dutch alliance have been authenticated off Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, on the east coast of the Manche department, announced Friday the Ministry of Culture.
“We are now certain that these are wrecks linked to the Battle of La Hougue”, which on May 29, 1692 opposed the fleet of Louis XIV to the Anglo-Dutch fleet, explains Cécile Sauvage archaeologist at the department of underwater archaeological research. and underwater (Drassm).
The Drassm has been carrying out an expertise campaign on the archaeological sites of Saint-Vaast since August 15 and until Tuesday, the researcher who is responsible for this mission told AFP.
An intermediate step
In 1990, these three “possible wrecks” had been declared to the State by a diver, Christian Cardin, in a non-professional setting. “At the time, Christian Cardin had located them with a magnetometer and then he had sent divers who found wood. But the wrecks had not been appraised”, specifies Cécile Sauvage.
Until then only 5 of the 12 wrecks from this battle had been identified. They had also been located by Christian Cardin in 1985, then appraised between 1990 and 1995. The three wrecks appraised this time by the Drassm are at an intermediate stage.
Historically valuable shipwrecks
“There is a wreck which is quite eroded: the wooden structures are quite damaged and we will not necessarily push its study further. The other two are buried under a meter of mud and therefore well preserved. reduced. Accessing the entire wreck would require a lot of resources. It has not yet been finalized”, specifies Cécile Sauvage.
“It would be really relevant to go further to understand how the construction of vessels was set up under Louis XIV”, adds the scientist.
With the expertise of the first five wrecks discovered, for example, the scientists “had realized that there could be a big difference between what the archives say, the shipbuilding treaty published by Colbert, and the practices”, she continued. You can also find personal objects that speak of life on board at the time, according to the scientist.
The researcher hopes to find partners to fund further research. The General Council of La Manche had opened a maritime museum on the island of Tatihou in 1992 to tell the story of the Battle of La Hougue.