Shipwrecks are artifacts themselves, and subject to the same types of laws and obligations incumbent on all treasure hunting.

Many people are skeptical of shipwreck sites. If the location of a wreck is known, the reasoning goes, why hasn’t the treasure been salvaged? If the location of the wreck is unknown, what was the point of listing it as a treasure site? The approximate location of Whydah was known for many years, but it took considerable effort on the part of Barrett Clifford and his crew to locate the treasure. Clifford brought up 8,000 gold coins, jewelry, cannons, cutlasses, and so forth, but it cost $6,000,000 to do it.

Smaller wrecks, like The Hermione, carrying a hundred thousand dollar’s worth of specie in the hold, just weren’t worth the time of a professional treasure hunter. Amateurs, on the other hand, rarely have the specialized equipment to extract the loot from under tons of sand. But what the ocean hides, it can eventually uncover.

Autumn’s northeast storms have uncovered Spanish gold and silver in the past and undoubtedly will do so in the future. Luck and persistence always have and always will be a major part of treasure hunting.

The American Frigate Defense went down off Barlett’s Reef near New London, Conn., in 1779 at 41.2 degrees north and 72.06 degrees west carrying a cargo of specie valued at half a million dollars.

The American privateer Hermione went down November 1, 1782, in New London, Conn., carrying a cargo of specie valued at $100,000.

The American steamer Lexington went down off Bridgeport with an undetermined but supposedly large amount of cash and valuables in the safe.

An unidentified Spanish galleon lies sunken off New London. Undoubtedly there are many more. Once the eastern seaboard of the future United States began to get settled, the Spanish began re-routing their ships along the coast. Maintenance on the treasure galleons was woefully neglected in the off season. The existence of burgeoning American ports gave the Spanish deathtraps (however slim) a chance of putting into safe harbor to effect repairs in the event of an emergency. One of the factors contributing to the dangerous conditions on these craft were the undeclared treasures brought on board in the form of heavy jewelry by the passengers. Sometimes the weight of their undeclared treasure was nearly equal to the declared treasure in the hold. When a ship sinks, the treasure in the hold is scattered about the wreck site, but treasure on the passengers’ persons is very often washed ashore with the bodies.

The wreck of an early 19th century warship has been exposed on the beach at Griswold Point. The 350 ton vessel, which may have seen action against the British in The War of 1812 probably ran aground during a hurricane.

Another hurricane on October 19, 1770, smashed 20 ships to pieces on the beach near New London.

In 1812 the merchantman Osprey was wrecked during a gale on Pleasure Beach south of the city.

In 1816 the Spanish merchantman Anion was run aground on Goshen Point, also south of the city.