Goold the Ghoul

Of all the goofy, inconsequential pronouncements from HHI, Jim Goold, and assorted other anti-OMEX groupies over time, we found Goold's statement last week that Odyssey had "desecrated a war grave" with its Black Swan (BS) find to be the most loathsome ever.

Not surprisingly, the original thinkers over at HHI fell all over themselves promoting this absurd allegation, with several calling the company "sick," as if Odyssey was pushing aside heaps of rotting bodies to get at the treasure (which is surely what they'd like the uninformed public to mentally picture). Never mind that HHI had not once, ever, suggested this might be the case with the Mercedes. No, all they needed was their taskmaster to bark an order and they were as compliant as the meekest child.

First, let's recognize Goold's statement for what it really was: a despicable public relations gimmick intended to demonize Odyssey in the public eye. We've already said we don't think Judge Pizzo will appreciate this bad faith gesture, nor Goold's premature exclamation of victory in the case.

Second, it's the noxious nature of this gross and inappropriate allegation that reveals Goold's willingness to do practically anything to make a case against Odyssey. It's apparently not enough for him to go head-to-head in a courtroom, where law and decorum are the guiding principles, he has to stoop to throwing out highly charged accusations intended to inflict grievous damage to the reputation of his opponent. This tells us he is worried, for surely if he and his client felt the facts and the law were clearly on their side, they would not need to mire in the muck with these kinds of baseless, disgusting allegations.

So, what of this claim that Odyssey "violated" a "war grave"?

First, need we point out that no shipwreck was found where the BS treasure and artifacts were archaeologically recovered. Without a shipwreck, how does one honestly claim there are human remains to be found? What's more, bodies do not last underwater for long. With the exception of more modern ships sinking and essentially entombing its victims, there were no such scenario with the Mercedes 204 years ago. Those tragically killed in the explosion were most likely scattered and lost forever to the depths. In other words, there are no human remains from the Mercedes shipwreck existing any where underwater today. Period.

What else?

Well, we think it's rather important to note that Spain and Britain were not at war. Some of the information we've seen indicates the British "intervention" was not considered a military action by either Spain or Britain. Had Britain considered it so, the captured vessels would have been considered "prizes." Instead, they were considered "Droits of Admiralty." In times of war, captured vessels and cargo were considered "prizes" and generously awarded to the captors. This was not the case with the other three vessels of the Spanish fleet. Furthermore, Spain objected to Britain's action as an act of piracy, not of war.

In other words: No war, no war graves. No military action, no military graves.

We would add that we are not aware of any catastrophic sinking of any vessel that did not result in the unfortunate loss of human life. The Mercedes is no exception. You would think that even the amateur archaeologists at HHI would know there are not many archaeological recoveries that do not encounter graves at some point, and in fact, these graves are often the target of such recoveries.

Regardless, we doubt there were many, if any, human remains associated with the Black Swan, even if it proves ultimately to be the Mercedes. Considering the ship was destroyed by a magazine explosion, the hull of the ship would have broken apart, immediately dropping any cargo and ballast in the lower decks (some historical accounts have referred to this as an egg dropping its yolk). Passengers on the same deck as the explosion would likely have been immediately killed, reduced to shards along with the portions of the ship above the waterline, while others would have been injured or thrown from the vessel.

Still others may have been trapped. Both the forecastle and poop would have likely floated for some time, and indeed some of the contemporary reports bear this out. Survivors were plucked from the forecastle, although one account mentions the poop. Perhaps it was both. Since there are no apparent vessel remains, and bodies float (at least after awhile) and are much less dense than coins and ingots, we find it difficult to believe any human remains would have even sunk in the same area, much less continue to exist.

Surely these facts were as available and understandable to Goold the Ghoul as they were to us. So to make the claim he did was not only highly inappropriate, but we think also possibly unethical. We hope Odyssey will continue to aggressively counter these sorts of reckless charges with the facts, and where such gross allegations have the effect of libel and defamation, they will be appropriately pursued as well.

** HH Watch sincerely thanks several contributors for providing content and context for this post. We is much obliged!