Divers in Tonga have discovered the wreck of a vessel said to be a historic pirate ship containing a legendary hoard of sunken treasure.
The wreck is thought to be of the Port-au-Prince sunk by local islanders after its pirate crew had filled the ship’s hold with gold and treasures looted from British vessels.
The British ship sailed into Pacific water in search of whales in 1806 after straying from its main mission of ambushing and capturing treasure ships.
But upon finding the Port-au-Prince in Tongan waters, the local king Finau Ulukalala II and his people seized the ship and massacred most of the crew.
Tongan legend has it that chief Ulukalala then scuttled the vessel with nearly all its treasure still on board.
The sunken hoard, which has inspired generations of adventurers to search for it, is believed to have been found off the coast off Foa Island, in the Ha'apai Island group.
The wreck is thought to be of the Port-au-Prince sunk by local islanders after its pirate crew had filled the ship’s hold with gold and treasures looted from British vessels.
The British ship sailed into Pacific water in search of whales in 1806 after straying from its main mission of ambushing and capturing treasure ships.
But upon finding the Port-au-Prince in Tongan waters, the local king Finau Ulukalala II and his people seized the ship and massacred most of the crew.
Tongan legend has it that chief Ulukalala then scuttled the vessel with nearly all its treasure still on board.
The sunken hoard, which has inspired generations of adventurers to search for it, is believed to have been found off the coast off Foa Island, in the Ha'apai Island group.
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