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Aboukir, June 27th 1999 � French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio in co-operation with the Supreme Council for Egyptian Antiquities today presented the latest archaeological finds from recent excavations relating to Napoleon Bonaparte�s fleet. The French fleet was defeated by Admiral Lord Nelson at the famous Battle of the Nile on August 1st 1798 in Aboukir Bay. The most important results of Mr. Goddio�s work are detailed underwater maps of Aboukir Bay which reconstruct the order of events during the battle as well as showing the positions of the ships during the battle and the tactics of the two camps. Extensive research of the sea bed, carried out with specially developed electronic systems and followed up by several hundreds of dives by underwater archaeologists, provided information for these maps. Besides Napoleon�s flagship, the Orient, with 2700 gross register tons and 120 cannons - the biggest ship of the fleet, the Serieuse and the Artemise were discovered, both frigates belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte�s fleet. The Serieuse, the smallest ship of the fleet, sank during a desperate attempt to keep the British fleet away from the French, while the Orient later exploded at the height of the battle. Surprising new evidence has come to light from the types of pieces of wreck from the Orient and the way they were spread around over a surface of half a square kilometre. This has led Franck Goddio to the conclusion that the huge ship was not, as formerly assumed, destroyed by one, but by two explosions which detonated almost simultanously. Seven anchors from different ships of the fleet, which were found around the Orient give detailed information about the position of some of the ships before the explosion. Besides cannons, portable firearms and ammunition, several everyday objects were found. They give information about ordinary daily life on board as well as the ships� crews. Parts of human skeletons were also exhumed. Among the most spectacular finds are thousands of lead typefaces which belonged to a printing press on board the Orient. Napoleon Bonaparte had taken the press to spread his messages most effectively. A large amount of French gold, silver and copper coins were found, some of them dating back to the era of Louis XIV., some to Louis XV. and most of them to the era of Louis XVI. Most surprisingly, there were also gold coins from Malta, the Ottoman Empire, Venice, Spain and Portugal among them. This leads to the assumption that the precious finds were part of the Maltese Treasure which Napoleon captured on his way to Egypt. The extensive excavation, which was initiated by Jacques Dumas in 1983 and resumed 13 years after his death by Franck Goddio, will take years to complete. All the artefacts raised are being conserved by the Supreme Council for Egyptian Antiquities and will remain in Egypt. They will later be shown at national and international exhibitions. Previous important discoveries by Franck Goddio include among others the Spanish galleon San Diego, the Submerged Royal Quarter of Ancient Alexandria, five Chinese junks, as well as the Griffin, a trading ship from the English East India Company. The research work is made possible by the Hilti Foundation, Liechtenstein. A TV documentary entitled �Napoleon�s Lost Fleet� will be screened world wide in August 1999 by the Discovery Channel, Bethesda, USA, which also supports Franck Goddio in his work. |
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