The British ship Spring of Whitby, 8-guns, 397-tons, Captain Skeleton, sailing for England was lost off the coast of Florida in 1824. In 1965, Fay Field of Treasure Salvors Inc., did a magnetometer survey off the coast of Florida between Fort Pierce and Sebastian, He located the scattered wreckage of an early 19th century shipwreck just a few hundred feet from shore. Since the company was busy salvaging a fortune in treasure from the nearby wrecks of the 1715 treasure fleet, the newly discovered wreck was of little interest. Divers did manage to locate and recover the ship’s bronze bell, inscribed “Spring of Whitby 1801.” No treasure was discovered but a number of iron fasteners and bronze fittings were salvaged at the time.
Research revealed that the Spring of Whitby’s keel was laid in an English shipyard in 1800 and the ship was launched the following year. She was a large collier, 110 feet in length, and 397-tons. The vessel was leased to the British government to be used as a transport, probably to haul timber. Her history wasn’t particularly noteworthy until 1824, the year she disappeared. That year the ship picked up a load of timber in Newfoundland and was returning to England when she vanished. How and why the Spring of Whitby ended up wrecked off the coast of Florida is a maritime mystery that remains unsolved to this day.
Today, the remains of the Spring if Whitby can be found 200 feet off the beach in 18 feet of water. Divers can see four cannons just past the first reef, while two large anchors can be found seaward of the second reef. With a well-trained eye, the wreck itself can be found in a depression in the reef and consists of some ballast and assorted timbers. According to authors Steven Singer, Bob Weller, Ernie Richards and others, “Bust-type portrait Pillar dollars dated 1807-1809 have been found near the site off Wabasso Beach. Singer states in his book Shipwrecks of Florida that the vessel “likely wrecked in 1809 or 1810,” but this would not appear to be the case if the Spring of Whitby was lost in 1824. These coins may indicate yet another undiscovered shipwreck in the vicinity.
In addition, cultural material indicative of a 1715 fleet shipwreck is found in the immediate vicinity. Pottery shards, Oriental porcelain pieces and other finds including gold and silver buttons and gold jewelry as well as an ornate gold cylinder with a winged serpent of gold was recovered on the Spring of Whitby site, along with two beautiful gold snuff box lids with engraved designs. Salvors also recovered two heavy silver candlesticks just to the south of the site. In 1990, Gary Daemer and his crew aboard the Rogue Wave, one of the salvage boats subcontracted to work under Mel Fisher’s Admiralty leases made an intriguing discovery. They found an bronze service bell in eight feet of water. (Several newspapers at the time, including the Sarasota Herald “Treasure Hunters Recover Silver Bell” July 30, 1990, erroneously stated the bell was silver.) The bell was inscribed with the Latin phrase “Soli Deo Gloria 1705.” (A Protestant Reformer core-belief meaning “Glory to God Alone.”) The bell obviously came from an earlier shipwreck and research conducted by Laura Strolia indicates the Marigalera could be a likely candidate. The Mariagalera was one of the five ships comprising Ubilla’s Nueva España Flota in 1715. The vessel was a small balandra or sloop that the Spanish had captured in 1714. (Which would explain the discovery of a Protestant bell on a Spanish shipwreck.)
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida awarded Mel Fisher the shipwreck site. Through their custodianship thy retain ownership of 80% of the treasure, coins and artifact recovered from the known 1715 Fleet shipwreck sites as well as several other wrecks including the Spring of Whitby.
This auction is for a genuine artifact recovered from the Spring of Whitby site, an iron lower valve box to a bilge pump.
THE WINNER WILL RECEIVE THE FOLLOWING...
#1 The conserved iron lower valve box to a bilge pump recovered from the Spring of Whitby site.
#2 The official Certificate of Authenticity (COA) issued by Mel Fisher Center, Inc.
#3 An original copy of Maritimes Shipwreck Quarterly which included the article...