In 1641 the ship was loaded with 100,000 pounds of gold, 400 bars of Mexican silver and a huge amount of precious jewels. The Merchant Royal was tasked with taking treasures from the New World to Spain under the command of one Captain John Limbrey. The Merchant Royal // One of the richest shipwrecks never found Whatever the story, it is likely that after more than 200 years we shall never know the real fate of the Patriot and Theodosia Burr Alston. Perhaps most fanciful of all is the story put forward by a Karankawa Indian chief, who claimed that he rescued a woman who had washed up on shore after a shipwreck, and that before she died she gifted him her locket-with the name Theodosia inscribed upon it. A number of theories and legends have sprung up around the fate of Theodosia-some claim the ship was attacked by pirates and that she was forced to walk the plank, while others suggest that the Patriot got caught up in the War of 1812 and was sunk accidentally by an enemy ship. It never arrived in New York, and no trace of the ship or crew was ever found. It is known that the ship left dock and sailed north, but what happened after that is a mystery. Desperate for a change of scene, on New Year’s Eve 1812 she boarded the schooner Patriot in South Carolina to visit her father in New York. Sadly, in 1812, Theodosia lost her only son to a fever and she became sick with grief. Theodosia had a privileged upbringing and a good education, and in 1801 she married wealthy landowner Joseph Alston, who went on to become governor of South Carolina. Theodosia Burr Alston (1783–1813) was the daughter of American politician and third vice president of the United States Aaron Burr. The Patriot // The disappearance of Theodosia Burr Alston Below are seven ships that have disappeared without leaving a trace. The true fate of many of these ships will never be known, but speculation suggests that storms, piracy, mutiny, accidental bombing, and even the attack of a giant squid could be responsible for their vanishings. There’s something ghoulishly fascinating about a mysterious disappearance, and our vast oceans offer seemingly endless space in which to vanish.
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