A team of enthusiastic divers found off the coast of the English county of Norfolk the royal warship Gloucester, which sank in 1682, writes BBC.

Long way of research.

Brothers Julian and Lincoln Barnwell, along with their father and a couple of friends, searched for the famous frigate for four years, covering an area of \u200b\u200b5,000 nautical miles.. They were already beginning to lose hope when they finally stumbled upon the well-preserved remains 45 kilometers from the seaside town of Great Yarmouth.. Divers first discovered a large cannon.

" We immediately felt that we were in a privileged position. No one in the world except us at that moment knew where this ship lay.. It was a special moment and we will never forget it,"

The Barnwells found the ship back in 2007, but they were only able to announce it now.. It took additional years to identify the find with a team of experts..

“We ourselves were sure that it was the Gloucester, but other ships with guns were sinking in these parts, so we had to confirm this,” explains Julian Barnwell.

The British Ministry of Defense admitted that the ship found was indeed the Gloucester in 2012, after divers lifted the ship's bell from the bottom.

After that, the location, which is in international waters, was to be protected. It was only now that the divers could announce that it was the Gloucester that was discovered..

History of the Gloucester.

The Gloucester was built in 1652. As part of the English fleet, he participated in naval battles during the wars with Spain and the Netherlands.. In 1682, the ship was wrecked on a sandbar off the coast of Norfolk County.. Died, according to various estimates, from 130 to 250 people.

On board was James Stewart, Duke of York, former Lord Admiral of the English Navy and younger brother of then-reigning King Charles II.. The Duke managed to escape along with about 330 other sailors and passengers..

Having survived the crash, the Duke of York became the next king of England, known as James II - the last Catholic on the English throne.. In 1688, he was overthrown during the "

According to eyewitnesses, the actions of the duke during the shipwreck led to great loss of life.. The first, according to the rules, were to evacuate the royals, but the duke argued with the captain for a long time that some maneuvers could move the ship aground. Because of this, precious time was lost.. In addition, according to witnesses, the future James II first let all the Catholic priests and his dogs be saved, and then the crew members began to be put into the boats.

Yakov refused to take responsibility for the tragedy, blaming the captain for everything, who was subsequently imprisoned..

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The sailing ship " When the Mary Rose was lifted from the bottom of the Solent in the southeast of England in 1982, the entire country watched the most complex operation on television..

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Diver Julian Barnwell also hopes that this find will help to learn a lot about English history..

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What's left of the Gloucester frigate.

At the time of the discovery of the frigate, its keel was broken off from the hull, and what was left of the hull was immersed in the sandy bottom. How well the hull is preserved is unknown, there are no plans to dig it out and raise the ship to the surface.

At the site, divers discovered and brought to the surface a variety of artifacts, including clothes and shoes, goggles, navigational instruments, personal items and corked bottles of wine.. One of them bears the glass stamp of the Legg family, ancestors of the first US President George Washington.. No human remains were found on the ship - only animal bones.

Gloucester exhibition to be held at Norfolk Castle from February to July 2023. In parallel, a research project was launched on the circumstances of the tragedy and conspiracy theories around it..