Smyrna times., 1932-12-07
TREASURE SHIP
FOUND OFF CAPE
Salvagers Sure Wreckage
Found is That of Sunk
en- De Braak
PLAN TO LIFT HULK

Believing that they have located
the wreck of the British sloop-of
war De Braak which was sunk off
Cape Henlopen in 1898 with a
cargo Of Spanish gold, salvage
workers Thursday prepared to re
move the silt that covers a great
portion Of the wreckage. Several
articles recovered by divers in ad-
dition to survey Of the wreck has
convinced them, the salvagers sad
that they have finally discovered
their prize which is reputed to hold
gold doubloons, silver coins and
gold and silver bullion worth as
much as $4,000. The construction
Of the De Braak is clearly indicat-
ed, although approximately half of
the ship is buried under the bottom
of the sea, and everything above
the main deck has been demolish-
ed by the terrific surge Of the un-
dertow during the storms Of the
past century and a third. Clarence
A. Jackson, manager of the Balti-
more Derrick and Salvage Corpor-
alton, who is a skilled deep sea
diver, and Diver George Tyzack
have spent many hours examining
the wreck, and have brought var
ious parts of the vessel to the sur
face, among which are timbers of
different sizes and shapes, part of
a ships frame, and an iron chain
plate which they cut off with a
hack saw at the place where it
protruded above bottom, thirty
five feet from the bow The ma
terial recovered together with the
contour of the ship itself coincide
with the available data regarding
the construction of the De Braak.
Prominent marine surveyors from
Baltimore and New York journey
ed there and examined every inch
of the wood the divers brought to
the surface. They are satisfied
that the combination treenail fast
ening, and both large and small
hand wrought copper spikes recov-
cred among the wreckage are of
the same era of ship building of
1880 to which the De Braak be-
longs. Ralph E. Chapman, of
New York city, salvage engineer
in charge Of the operations. has
two pieces of cast iron in his pos
session, picked out Of the wreck
by the divers which have been in
salt water SO long that the very
nature Of the metal has changed SO
that it is now SO soft that it can
be whitfield away with a knife
4 However the iron crystals show
their origin clearly under mag
nifying glass. These pieces Of iror
are not Of sufficient size to indicate
positively their use on the vessel
but it is thought they may be be
Toying pins or fittings from the
ships rail An interesting feature
of the vessels construction i.
shown in the fastening with mol
ten lead Of a round ended copper
pin, which extends out on two side!
of a frame. The pin seems K
have been used for making fas
small lines. Plans are already I'M
der way for the Quitting Of The
elaborate floating plans necessary
to first remove the silt now par
TALLY covering the ship, and ther
to sling the wreck preparatory t.
lifting and carrying it to a marin,
railway for a complete examina
ton and the recovery of its valu
able cargo. AS only the super
structure of the ship is above the
sea bottom, as revealed by the di
mensions of the timbers anC
frames, it is felt by the salvager:
that the original cargo in its en-
tirety will be found within the hui
when raised During the pas
month the treasure seekers have
been handicapped in their sweep
ing and diving operations by the
stormy weather prevalent at this
season of the year. The divers