Diving brothers found the wreck of the Gloucester 300+ years after sinking

The Gloucester ran aground on a sandbank off the coast of Norfolk and sank in an hour. James Stuart, Duke of York and King James II of England were among the passengers on the doomed ship. British history might have been different had he not died. The wreck of the Gloucester was discovered by two brothers in 2007, but it took several more years to confirm that it was the Gloucester. It has been a secret for a long time.

"Because of the circumstances of its sinking, this can be claimed as the most significant historic maritime discovery since the raising of the Mary Rose in 1982," said maritime history expert. The discovery promises to fundamentally change understanding of 17th century social, maritime, and political history. The significance of the find was outlined in a new paper written by Jowitt.

Political intrigue and religious tensions were rife during this time. Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Ireland, and Scotland in January 1649. Charles and James fled to France where they lived in exile.

James was named Duke of York when the Commonwealth collapsed in 1660. English Protestants formed the Country Party and tried to exclude James from the line of succession in order to create a constitutional crisis. James lived in Scotland for a long time. James was crowned king when Charles II died of apoplexy in 1695.

Gloucester in 1682.">

The future King James II sailed on the Gloucester with his pregnant second wife to meet with the Scottish Parliament. Colonel George Legge is a descendant of George Washington and was one of the passengers.

Samuel Pepys was a passenger on the royal yacht and wrote a letter to a friend about the sinking. He thought the event would be talked about in the town.

According to Jowitt, there is no record of how many people died, but she believes it was between 130 and 250. It could have been a lot worse. "If this fell out but two hours sooner in the morning, or the yacht at the usual distance they had all the time before been, the Duke himself and every soul had perished," he wrote.

Gloucester.">

James had argued with the Gloucester's pilot about the best course of action to avoid running aground the sandbanks. They had cleared that region, he thought. "It was James' course they were following when disaster happened, but he accepted no responsibility, scapegoating others, and ensuring that the pilot was imprisoned through a court-martial," she said.

The man who presided over the court-martial suspected that there had been a cover-up and other crucial witnesses to the sinking. According to survivors' accounts, James stayed on the ship until the last moment, dooming many others to death, since they couldn't abandon the ship before royalty. James was accused of placing the survival of his dogs and priests above that of other people.

James II's reign was damaged from the beginning. The "Glorious Revolution" was a successful plot to remove him from the throne in 1688 after several witnesses to the sinking viewed him as unsuitable to rule. Mary and her husband, William of Orange, assumed the throne after their father's death.

For more than 300 years, the Gloucester was half-buried in the sea. The brothers are licensed to dive. As a child, Lincoln Barnwell watched the lifting of the Mary Rose from its watery resting place. They searched for four years and covered 4,000 miles of terrain.