Wreck salvagers and wreckage
Six days after the shipwreck, on the 30th of December 1811, the sea were so calm that a boat could be sent to the wreck of the St. George. It was apparent that the ship already during the stranding had sunk deep down into the sea bed. The entire poop deck and part of the middle gun deck had disappeared. Only pieces of the ship sides were above the surface and there was found nothing of importance on the wreck. Only two pieces of sail and some rope were brought ashore.
The salvage work was reassumed in 1904, when in the month of August the weather conditions were so good that the work could start. The remainders of the wreck was found under 10 meter water. Of the 98 cannons, 48 were recovered. Inside they were smooth and shiny, but exposed to the air they quickly corroded. They were all sold to a French company and melted down. On the deck there were a considerable number of copper nails. According to rumours the St. George were supposed to have carried 1 million pound sterling in gold, so when a box was discovered on the deck it was immediately recovered. However, it proved only to contain carpenter tools. Following the salvaging of finds from the St. George, the wreck of the Defence were discovered. It had almost disappered, only the bottom of the wreck with a few copper nails were above the sand. Thus, there was nothing valuable to retrieve.
The salvage work was carried out by blowing huge part of the ships sides and front into pieces with dynamite and then fishing it up. The wood was given to a carpenter in Thyborøn who made small tobacco boxes out of it. The nails were cut down to a seize which made them fit in fish boxes, so that they could be smuggled ashore. In order to avoid the smell of metal, the nails were covered with sea weed and hidden to prevent the valuable metal would not fall into German hands. The last wreck salvagers to visit the wreck of the St. George was Sigurd Damgaard in the summer of 1954, but the weather was so bad, that nothing could be retrieved. |
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The St. George were left
to rest in peace for a number of years. But assuming that
there had to be things of considerable value on board, a
diving company from Ringkøbing negotiated with the
English authorities about diving and salvaging of goods.
An agreement on the salvage rights was reached, but no
important results came out of the work and the rights
were then given to Fjaltring Salvage Company. The company
did not have much equipment, but in 1876 the company
managed to salvage six small cannons, some gun powder
barrels and two ships bells. One of them was donated as
church bell to No church near Ringkøbing and the other
is hanging next to the anchor from the St. George in
Thorsminde. When the company could not salvage more, the
rights were transferred to Harboøre Salvage Company.