HISTORICAL DIVING INTEREST: THE PRIVY COUNCIL REPORT INTO TH...

Hammer

£280

HISTORICAL DIVING INTEREST: THE PRIVY COUNCIL REPORT INTO THE RECOVERY OF BULLION FROM H.M.S. THETIS, LOST 1830

Captain Thomas Dickinson R.N. v. Robert Dewar, Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Baker and William Townsend [1832], 183 pages, loosely bound and containing letters, accounts, personnel lists, log entries, testimonies with descriptions of the diving operations and air pumps etc -- 17 x 11in. (43 x 28cm.)

When H.M.S. Thetis was wrecked off Brazil in 1829 carrying a fortune in gold and silver, the Admiralty dispatched Capt. Thomas Dickinson (1786-1854) to attempt salvage. He designed and built new equipment and spent over a year in H.M.S. Lightning managing to raise about three-quarters of the bullion (£160,000 - now over £15m) but then fell out with his Commanding Officer in Rio de Janeiro. There's little doubt Dickinson's diving bell and launch secured the success of the operation, but it took the long legal battle represented in this lot before he was finally awarded compensation. The models for his diving bell and launch can be viewed at RMG.

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