Smyrna times., 1935-08-08
TELLSOF WRECK
OF "DeBRAAK"
Craft Up Set Two Miles Off
Lewes 137 Years Ago,
Says Old Newspaper
NO BULLION MENTIONED

Whether the British sloop, De
Braak, sunk off the Delaware
breakwater, 137 years ago, carried
treasure of more than S10,0OO,-
900 in gold and silver bullion, is ex-
pected to be settled within a short
time. The account of the sinking
of the DeBraak in 1898, costing the
lives of 40 men, was referred to as
melancholy accident" in an ac-
count published in a Philadelphia
newspaper six days after the acci-
dent. Two months elapsed before
the news reached London This
little treasure ship which is now
attracting wide attention through
the efforts of New England salvag-
ers to find her location and recover
the alleged cargo, has risen in news
value to the reading public, now
taking on the glamor of fiction af-
ter being locked in the hold of
Davy Jones for 137 years. The
Boston pilot ship, Liberty" will
arrive in Lewes within the next
few days to pump out the sloop, be-
lieved definitely located by the
New Englanders nearly two miles
east of where she foundered.
Newspaper Tells of Sinking
The obscure newspaper notice,
recording the disaster has been
found in the volume "Some Sussex
County Records" compiled by the
late c. H. B. Turner, D. d., former
rector of st. Peters Church, at
Lewes. The article appeared un-
der the date line, Philadelphia, May
81, 1898, and reads as follows:
His Britannia Majesty's sloop of
war, DeBraak, Captain Drew, was
overset in Old Kiln Roads about 4
O'Clock last Friday afternoon. She
was at the time under mainsail and
reefed topsail, just about to cast
anchor, a mile from the lighthouse,
her boat, alongside, waiting for the
Captain who intended to go ashore
at Lewistown; sudden slew of
wind laid her on her beam ends;
she Immediately filled and went
down, with Captain Drew, hissLieu-
tenant, and thirty-eight officers,
seamen and marines. The rest of
the ships company, about 25, in
cluding the boateswain, escaped in
boats, and several were taken up
by pilot boat. The DeBraak
parted with the fleet off the West
ern Islands in chase of a strange
sail and was unable to join the con-
voy.
about 25 days ago she fell in
with and captured a Spanish ship
from La Plata bound to Spain,
with very valuable argo consist
ing of 200 tons of copper, guam
tity of cocoa, etc. The prize is ar
rived in the Delaware. Twelve of
the prisoners have been brought to
Philadelphia and given to the
agents of Spain. The officers left
alive are the boatswain, a midship-
man and the prize master.
THE melancholy accident is height
ened by the Captains lady being so
near as New York, where she was
every hour in anxious expectation
Of meeting him. The prize lies at
the fort"
Treasure Not Mentioned
1t will be observed that the arti-
Gle makes no reference to any
fabulous cargo of bullion aboard
the DeBraak, but the following
summer, 1899, the frigate Assist
ance" was sent to recover the
sloop, according to British Admir-
atty Office records. Later salvag-
ers contended they had reason to
believe the DeBraak had sunk with
untold treasures captured on her
privateering voyage with the Brit
ish fleet. Treasury officials at
Washington state that the FEEDER
al Government has no claim on any
treasure recovered as the sloop
sank outside territorial waters af-
ter the peace treaty with Great
Britain, ending the Revolutionary
War, had been signed.