The Civil Guard has recovered an anchor that could have been part of the HMS Serpent, a ship wrecked in 1890 off the Costa da Morte, in A Coruña. The recovery occurred after finding out that a neighbor used it to decorate the facade of a house in the nearby town of Muxía.
The investigation began in June of this year following a complaint filed at the Galician municipality’s office. They were alerted about a neighbor who displayed the anchor in his house. To verify these facts, the Civil Guard requested a report from the Underwater Cultural Heritage Area for the Northern zone of the Spanish Federation of Underwater Activities (FEDAS). Said analysis determined that the anchor located is of a variety frequently used by the Royal Navy in the 19th century.
According to the testimonies obtained by the Civil Guard, said anchor was extracted in the area of Cabo Vilán, in Camariñas, about 25 years agowhen a fishing boat snagged the anchor with its nets. During the maneuver, the rigging broke and the anchor returned to the bottom, although the ship’s skipper wrote down the coordinates to attempt a subsequent rescue.
The man now being investigated would have obtained the anchor some time later through a larger ship and used it as an ornament in his home. The Civil Guard, through SEPRONA, attributes an alleged crime against historical heritage, since the remains of shipwrecks prior to 1901 are protected by the Cultural Heritage Law of Galicia.
A serious shipwreck occurred in 1890
HMS Serpent was a British torpedo cruiser of almost 2,000 tons displacement that entered service with the Royal Navy in 1888. The ship, under the command of Commander Harry L. Ross, saw its end on the fateful night of November 10, 1890.
That day, in the middle of a strong storm and perhaps due to a navigation error, the ship ran aground and almost its entire crew was lost: in total, 172 of its 175 crew members died. The remains of the ship were scattered along the coast and its crew members were buried in what is now called the ‘English Cemetery’, near Cape Vilán.
Cultural Heritage Law of Galicia
In accordance with Law 5/2016, of May 4, on the Cultural Heritage of Galicia, the remains of shipwrecks prior to 1901 are considered protected cultural heritage. The legislation establishes that any object located and removed without authorization must be confiscated and placed at the disposal of the ministry responsible for cultural heritage.
Along with the anchor that presumably belongs to the wreck of the HMS Serpent, agents have located two other anchors whose origin is also being investigated. By order of the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 2 of Corcubión, the anchors have been transferred and deposited in the Museum of Man, in Camelle (Camariñas), where they will be preserved while a more detailed analysis is carried out.
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