Shipwrecked!
Modern Bermuda owes its start to a shipwreck. Today divers the world over flock here to explore the hundreds of wrecks scattered beneath the islands' waves.

Adventurous divers will tell you, encountering the centuries-old wreck of a sunken ship is like discovering a new world. With more than 250 ships scuttled among its vibrant coral reefs, Bermuda offers a wealth of worlds born of wrecks.

It was a shipwreck, in fact, that gave rise to the Bermuda culture we know today. English settlement took off here only after the 1609 wreck of the Virginia-bound Sea Venture. In the centuries that followed, shipwrecks played a major role in the economy of the fledgling colony, and many of those wrecks are quite accessible to recreational divers.

Bermuda is one of the finest places in the world for wreck hunting. Sea temperatures range from 65 degrees Fahrenheit in winter to 85 degrees Fahrenheit in summer, with visibility ranging from 50 feet to more than 100 feet. Composed of approximately 360 islands — only half of which are named — Bermuda covers approximately 20.5 square miles. Four of the largest islands support 95 percent of the population. These islands are on the southern side of the seamount on which Bermuda sits, and they are surrounded by coral reefs, which can be treacherous. Until a lighthouse was built in 1846, it was quite difficult to see at night, even in clear weather under a bright moon. So, it's easy to understand why Bermuda has so many shipwrecks.

A shipwreck once was cause for celebration in Bermuda. Most early settlers came from humble beginnings in England, and some had even been sent to Bermuda as punishment for petty crimes. On the island, their lives remained difficult. A shipwreck afforded settlers an opportunity to better their lots with salvaged goods.

Most Bermuda settlers were involved in wrecking, no matter what their station in life. Even Governor Nathaniel Butler got into the act. Butler began his career in Bermuda, ironically, with a shipwreck. In 1619, the Bermuda Company sent him to the islands aboard the Warwick. The ship, owned by the Earl of Warwick, sank in Castle Harbour.

One of Butler's first acts as governor was to build two cedar boats to search for Spanish wrecks. In 1621, for example, Butler salvaged the wreck of the San Antonio, which had been sailing from Havana with a Spanish treasure fleet. Butler writes of spending 10 days at the wreck with boats and crew. He notes weighing several cannons, a cable possibly used as an anchor rope and miscellaneous cargo goods, but makes no mention of finding treasure.

But the Bermuda Company continued to search. Soon the group sent out a surveyor named Richard Norwood, who arrived with a diving bell and instructions to seek Spanish treasure. We do not know whether Norwood was successful, but he did survey the islands thoroughly.

Pirates Plunder

In succeeding years, shipwrecks were no less important to Bermuda. Pirates, privateers and smugglers flourished in Bermudas' waters, salvaging the wrecks. It is not surprising then that there are numerous accounts from ship owners and captains complaining to customs and other government officials about the treatment they received from local scavengers.

Salvagers looted cargo from distressed vessels and often burned them — sometimes even before the crew had abandoned the ship. If a ship carried large numbers of passengers, it might take several days to ferry them to shore. Sometimes overeager wreckers impeded the process by stripping ropes, spars and sails before anyone had a chance to get off. Worse, the scavengers then might turn their attention to the shipwrecked passengers' possessions. It must have been a traumatic experience to endure a shipwreck — and then be robbed by the pirates you thought had come to your rescue. Nonetheless, it was a common practice that continued for a long time.

But there was a legitimate side to salvaging. In the 20th century, shipwreck hunting in Bermuda greatly aided the war effort. In 1916, a steam lighter rigged for heavy lifting arrived in Bermuda to salvage metal from shipwrecks and offshore dumps. Scrap iron and nonferrous metals collected were then used to finance British operations during World War I.

The salvage vessel worked for two years: off shore during the summer and at the Royal Naval Dockyard in winter. Salvaged goods included cannons from the 32-gun frigate HMS Cerebus, which went down at the entrance to Castle Harbour in1783; metal from the 1880 wreck of the steamer Darlington and the 1905 wreck of Madiana; and the engines of the five-masted French schooner Fraternité.

Bermudian salvagers made similar efforts during World War II. One target was the Spanish passenger steamer Cristóbal Colón, which wrecked on the northeast breakers in 1936. The steamer had broken in two at the boiler room; the stern portion, including the engine room, remained intact. Salvagers were looking for nonferrous metal, port holes, casement windows from the shelter deck and whatever bronze and brass fittings that could be retrieved. Other metal was collected from dumps on shore.

In the early 1950s, the Bermuda government encouraged salvaging of nonferrous metals from shipwrecks for its balance of payments in foreign currency. Engines were broken up to retrieve bearings, seals and valves. Copper steam pipes, condensers, boiler feed pumps, and bilge and circulating pumps were also removed. Bronze propellers were brought ashore, and all metals were cleaned, graded and packed in steel barrels and shipped overseas.

Today a trove of shipwrecks awaits divers off the shores of Bermuda. Exploring a wreck indeed is one of the greatest treasures a diver can discover.

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