Hopes of saving £3bn HMS Sussex sink

IT’S enough to make Captain Jack ­Sparrow salivate – a £3billion haul of gold and silver lying at the bottom of the ­ocean since a British ship sank in 1694.

Sussex is lying in international waters just off Gibraltar Sussex is lying in international waters just off Gibraltar

Gordon Brown has his eyes on £1billion of the haul after the Ministry of Defence struck a controversial deal with US treasure-hunters to split the takings if the wreck is found in the Straits of Gibraltar.

This is where The Sussex, an 80-gun flagship, was sunk by a three-day storm as it carried the bullion – then worth £1million ­­– to the Duke of Savoy to seal his backing in the War of the Grand ­Alliance against French king Louis XIV.

It was leading a fleet of ships when it hit a violent three-day storm.

A dozen ships went down, 1,200 lives were lost and only two of the Sussex’s 600 crew survived.

The body of its captain, Admiral Sir Francis Wheeler, was washed up on shore two days later clad in only a nightshirt.

Almost three years ago Florida-based treasure-hunters Odyssey claimed to have identified 17 cannons from the Sussex.

Their search was abruptly halted by the Spanish government in a row over the sovereignty of another wreck.

Today, however, a new threat means hope of ever collecting the Sussex’s booty is fading.

A new report says that the 348 square metre wreck site is contaminated with modern-day pollution.

Plastic bags, ­domestic waste and ­cables from fishing vessels are strewn all over it.

A beer can is encrusted on one of the cannons. Asbestos and canisters marked “Danger” have also been found.

“It resembles a cross between a ­municipal rubbish dump and the Amazon rainforest,” said marine archaeologist Dr Sean Kingsley.

“It is covered in debris. Nets from passing trawlers are snapping this ship into oblivion. It is scandalous.”

Odyssey is locked in a fight against time with the Spanish.

First it must resolve the dispute over rights to £245million booty from the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, sunk off Portugal by a British squadron in 1804.

Odyssey’s Greg Stemm said: “This is a very important part of British maritime history. We hope we can begin the next phase of work as soon as possible and learn once and for all whether this is the Sussex and unlock her stories.”

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?