The ancient lure of gold, rum and other treasure is drawing a horde of modern speculators to the salvage of a British warship that sunk in 1763 off the coast of what is now Uruguay.



The wreck of the Lord Clive – which was destroyed by Spanish cannon fire during a botched attack on the city of Colonia del Sacramento – was discovered in 2004, but it was only this year that the Uruguayan government gave permission for the vessel to be recovered.

Long buried under rocks at the bottom of the River Plate, the contents of the ship are unknown, but tales of treasure chests and vast stocks of rum have prompted a frenzy of interest, according to the veteran Argentinian explorer who found the ship and is now raising funds for the recovery.

“Many people want to stake money, since they enjoy this kind of thing. It’s like gambling, you put in $1,000 and you could make $5,000 or $1m, depending on what shows up,” Rubén Collado told the Guardian.

Collado has previously found and salvaged dozens of ships, including, in 1984, the Nuestra Señora de Loreto, which contained millions of dollars worth of gold and silver coins. He believes the Lord Clive could be his most valuable discovery yet.

Constructed in Hull for the Royal Navy and originally named HMS Kingston, the six-deck, 64-gun ship was bought in 1762 by the East India Company – then the richest business in the world – to embark on a military campaign to secure markets and territory in Spain’s South American colonies during the Seven Years’ War.

Rubén Collado sits next to the place were the British 64-cannon ship Lord Clive was sunk in 1763 in Colonia del Sacramento. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The disastrously led expedition ended the following year, when the privateer strayed into the range of the defensive battery during a bombardment of Colonia del Sacramento. After fire broke out in the ammunition store, the ship sank with the loss of 272 crew including Captain Robert McNamara. Sixty-two survivors, who swam to shore were promptly imprisoned and the officers tried and hanged.

After peace was declared, Spanish mariners handed the territory back to Britain’s Portuguese allies. Before leaving, they smashed the city wall and dumped the rocks on the Lord Clive so it could not be refloated.

Whether the wreckage has been looted is unknown, but Collado believes it will still contain the gold coins the captain was given to pay for the intended three-year expedition, thousands of litres of rum, 64 bronze cannons and booty the crew had earlier seized from another ship.

“You can’t really make a valuation. The canons should be $64m altogether. The coins are worth $5,000 to $6,000 each and there are 100,000 of them, so just do the math,” he said. “But the most important thing about that ship is her history. She’s probably the best you can find in that condition thanks to the fresh water in that part of the River Plate.”

The salvage operation – which will require cranes, excavators and about 80 workers – is expected to begin within two months.