In 1565, Captain Jean Ribault sailed from France with ships and 800 settlers to resupply and reinforce the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now the state of Florida. The French colony was being threatened by the Spanish at nearby St. Augustine. Ribault’s fleet was caught in a hurricane and his flagship, la Trinité, sank just off Cape Canaveral, FL.
Now a US judge has ruled that a wreck off Cape Canaveral is Ribault’s la Trinité and therefore the protected property of France. The State of Florida supported France’s claim to the wreck against Global Marine Exploration Inc., which argued that the shipwreck’s identity couldn’t be definitively established. Artifacts from the ship, specifically, a granite monument bearing the French coat of arms, convinced U.S. Magistrate Judge Karla Spaulding that the shipwreck is la Trinité .
The Florida Times Union reports that the salvage company discovered evidence of the shipwreck in 2016, finding three French bronze cannons, 12 anchors, ballast, a grinding wheel and the granite monument.
Records show Ribault’s flagship was carrying monuments, bearing the fleur-de-lis, that were intended to mark France’s claim to what it called New France, the southeast coast of what eventually became America.
Once again you have made my morning. We will be sailing with you on Thursday with the Waterfront Alliance trip in NY Harbor, so the least I can do is buy a kindle copy of The Shantyman.
Hal Weiner, cooperating visual journalist, Working Harbor Committee
This case is another victory for those of us who passionately strive to protect and preserve our maritime heritage. Sites as significant as this deserve to be protected and investigated only by qualified professionals in order that the knowledge of our past contained within its hull will be properly recorded, interpreted, and shared with the world.
And John, you know perfectly well that had the salvors prevailed, once their possession of the salvage rights was locked down they would immediately begin asserting that it was, in fact, Ribault’s la Trinité for the purposes of sales or investors.
“The Paris Court of Appeals confirmed the judgment on November 22, 1989, essentially saying that since 1830 there is no throne of France, and therefore the arms of France: Azure three fleur-de-lys or, are the arms of a family and not arms of dominion. (End of quote).” It was ruled that the Fleur de Lys is Our Family Crest, not France’s. France and their attorney have been notified.