Odyssey to salvage HMS Victory

The wreck of an 18th century HMS Victory could be recovered by deep ocean salvage outfit Odyssey Marine Exploration.

The Florida-based company has scored a string of successes in its hunt for lost treasure ships.

In 2008 using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the Odyssey team found and identified HMS Victory. She sank in 1744 in a storm off the Channel Islands.

More than 1,000 sailors were drowned.

Bronze cannon bearing the crest of George 1 lay on the seabed, with an estimated 500 million pounds of treasure supposedly lying on the site.

The wreck – although it is perhaps better described as a series of scattered remains – lies 65 miles from her reported position.

As a warship, the British Government has taken a keen interest in what happens to Victory from here on in. But it looks set to give the go ahead to a salvage operation, with Odyssey to profit from the bulk of any treasure recovered.

Doing nothing may not be an option. Victory lies in an area scoured by trawl fishing vessels, whose nets could destroy the site in short shrift.