1955 HOWARTH ATTEMPT TO SALVAGE DeBRAAK CARGO
HISTORY OF CAPE HENLOPEN AND BEYOND
DeBRAAK
Friday, January 21, 1955, Delaware County Pennsylvania Daily Times :
A Wallingford treasurer hunter and deep sea diver from Delaware County thinks he “hooked on” to a sunken ship of fortune off Cape Henlopen, near Lewes, last summer.
It was disclosed today that Robert Howarth, IV., of Brookshire Road, obtained exclusive rights from Delaware to dive in its waters for 'treasure' aboard the British DeBraak Sloop of War, sunk in 1787 off Cape Henlopen.
Howarth, an engineer with the Hollingshead Corporation at Camden and his cousin Dr. William Boyce with the Norristown State Hospital are partners in the scheme and will pay $25 each month plus 10% of anything of value they bring to surface.
Last summer, using new Swedish diving equipment, they were said to have made contact with the sunken DeBraak. Many attempts at salvage have ended in failure for the millions in gold and silver cargo, captured by pirates, before she was capsized in a gale force wind squall and sunk while seeking refuge in Lewes Creek off Cape Henlopen.
Abstract: Delaware County Pennsylvania Daily Times, Friday, 21 January 1955
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I’m Harrison and this is a blog about ‘local’ history. I research topics through many means but mostly I find local newspaper articles from newspaperabstracts.com. Sometimes they are relative to something that is happening now. Sometimes it is just interesting and worth sharing.
