Years of Excavation Ahead for Napoleon's Sunken Ships
Alexandria, 28th October 1998 - Franck Goddio and his team in cooperation
with the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities excavated this summer in
Aboukir wreckage of sunken ships from part of the fleet of Napoleon
Bonaparte. The ships were found in an expedition led by Jacques Dumas in
1983 - 1984. The excavation work is expected to last for several years.
The discovery includes scores of artifacts belonging to Napoleon's flagship
L'Orient which sank on August 1, 1798 in the Battle of the Nile led by
Britain's Admiral Nelson. Among the artifacts are gold, silver and copper
coins, dating from the time of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI and the
time of the French Revolution, as well as artillery and ammunition, personal
objects of the crew, letters of a printing press on board and navigation
instruments.
These items were found by a team of 22 divers headed by underwater explorer
Franck Goddio in co-operation with the Supreme Council for Antiquities. The
Hilti Foundation of Liechtenstein once again provided the necessary
financing to make this mission possible.
The Discovery Channel, Bethesda, Maryland,USA, which is also supporting the
project, will produce a series of television specials, one of them featuring
Franck Goddio's search for Napoleon's lost fleet under its Expedition
Adventure initiative covering expeditions from around the world. Canal+ of
France will be co-producing partner. Discovery Channel's 'Napoleon's lost
fleet' will air in the summer of 1999.
