Written on : 11 November 2019 By : Melchior Burin des Roziers
The island of Ré has experienced hundreds of shipwrecks in its history. The sea is sometimes cruel with those who venture into it... Here are some stories of ships that have capsized off the coast of Reunion Island.
To begin with, here is a story that will surprise you and show you that if the sea can be dangerous for sailors, then so can men!
In the Middle Ages, when a ship was stranded on a coast, its wreckage became the property of the lord of the place. This was called "the right to break". For a long time, this custom was taken up by farmers on the Atlantic coast.
Thus, on the Island of Ré, some peasants who were not lacking in imagination had the idea of hanging lanterns around the donkeys' necks. Indeed, the light oscillated in such a way that in the middle of the night, sailors in the distance could easily confuse it with that of a buoy in the middle of the waves. As a result, they unintentionally landed on the beaches and found themselves stripped of their belongings and murdered.
This traditional looting has given rise to the French expression "faire tanguer l’âne", directly translating to "make the donkey rock". It is said that many sailors remained dead on the shores of the island and that mothers who had made the donkey rock, found the bodies of their sons thrown back by the waves.
Shipwreck of The Africa
One of the greatest marine tragedies in the history of France...
On 9 January 1920, an African ship, commanded by Antoine le Dû, left Bordeaux for Dakar with 602 passengers on board. The weather wasn't favourable and an early outbreak of problems forced the crew to set sail for the port of La Pallice (La Rochelle) two days later.
But at 7 a.m., the ship drifted away and the sailor's captain asked for help by radio. At 2 pm, the sailor learned that the two tugboats, Cedar and Victoire, which had been so much-awaited, were unable to cross the Island of Aix due to bad weather... The last hope: Rochebonne's light ship. It is 6pm and the African boat is drifting alone at sea, without electricity. The ship began to fill with water, flooding all the machines and the boiler room. But what was the Rochebonne to do?
22 hours later, Africa and Rochebonne collide. The Rochebonne was eventually swallowed up by the seabed. At 3 a.m., the last radio signal emitted by Africa was "I'm sinking!". Followed by the Roches des Barges, the Ban de Rochebonne and the Baleines at the tip of the Ile de Ré". Some have already taken the risk of getting on lifeboats in the middle of a storm, others remain on the ship praying with the missionaries and Bishop Jalabert. Faithful to his honour, the captain remained on board until the end.
Out of 602 passengers, only 34 survived. Hidden by the country's current events due to the great events of the time, this great tragedy remains relatively forgotten by history.
Legend has it that Bishop Monsignor Jalabert placed jewellery and gold bars in the hold of the African ship, a hypothetical treasure that no one ever found.
An 18th century shipwreck resurfaces off the coast of Ré
The Retais are not at the end of their surprises! An old ship was found on the bottom of the water near Saint-Clément-des-Baleines.
One summer day in 2016, Eric Le Gall went underwater fishing. On a small beach only 7 meters deep, he discovered 7 cannons on the surface of the sand. This is the beginning of a great discovery. The search is on and the treasure hunt will take time. After dozens of hours of diving, teams of researchers bring up objects to identify: the ship's bell, an almost intact candleholder, cannonballs and musket balls, a spoon, coffee beans, three coins... As the months go by, the digital sketch of the ship takes shape.
For the time being, we believe we can say that it would be a merchant ship (probably French) from the end of the 18th century and that it was engaged in transatlantic trade from its homeport of La Rochelle. It could also be a privateer ship that has received royal permission to attack enemy ships.
Every summer, the excavations resume. We will soon know more about this mysterious specimen that reappears from the past and the seabed with our naval history.
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