This East Indiaman is probably one of the richest French vessel ever lost at sea and never found.
The La Vierge du Bon Port was bought in Saint Malo in 1664, armed with 30 cannons and 300 tons of cargo space. Her captain, Truchot de la Chesnaie, from Saint Malo also, was commanding this vessel on a special order from the Minister Colbert, a dedicated Minister for the Marine Affairs, appointed by Louis XIV, the Sun King.
At this time, France was far from the main European military power on land and sea. This mission was the first expedition to Madagascar for the creation of a strong colony on the island, under the privileged of the newly created French East India Company.
For this purpose, four ships were being prepared in Le Havre, La Rochelle and Saint Malo and gathered together at Brest for a cost to the Company of more than 500,000 Livres.
With 230 elite crew and 288 passengers (soldiers, high rank civil servants, etc.), the little squadron left Brest on 7 of March 1665, and reach Madagascar on the 10th of July, for the “Le Saint Paul” and at the end of August, “Le Taureau” and “La Vierge du Bon Port” also reach their destination.
The goals for this first expedition, were principally to send to France, in the shortest times, a ship fully loaded with a large variety of samples which could be found in Madagascar and the islands in its vicinity. It was vital to show to everybody a first good result for the future expeditions.
On the 20th of February 1666, the ship “La Vierge du Bon Port”, full of goods and merchandise, was ready to sails on a voyage back to Le Havre, in France.
Unfortunately, several month later, on the 9th of July, her voyage almost completed, she was attacked by an English corsair and sunk off Guernsey, with her 120 crew, the remaining survivors taken as prisoners and brought to England.
With this event, perished all hopes for a rich colony to be raised and the commercial loss resulting from this expedition was immense, as all her treasures were lost forever. She sank fast, and thirty six English crewmen drowned while trying to save the treasure.
Although the initial report valued her cargo and contents at £1,500,000, a Channel Islander stated that this was a gross underestimate, since one chest alone of precious stones known to be aboard was valued at £40,000, and ambergris and other things were equal to a further £400,000.
No record exists of any salvage on the wreck, so her remains probably lie on the seabed near the Channel Isles, awaiting discovery by some future generation of treasure seekers or salvage divers.
Shipwreck List (Wikipedia)
Complete Wreck Diving: A Guide to Diving Wrecks
A World for the Taking: The Ships of the Honourable East India Company
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