HMS Braak Salvage collection, 1888-1928 (majority within 1888-1889)
12 items
The HMS Braak Salvage collection contains correspondence, documents, and a log book related to the Ocean Wrecking Company's efforts to salvage the ship and its rumored treasure in 1888 and 1889.
The HMS Braak Salvage collection contains correspondence, documents, and a log book related to the Ocean Wrecking Company's efforts to salvage the ship and its rumored treasure in 1888 and 1889.
Items include:
- A letter from S. H. Copperage of Shelby City, Kentucky, offering to the Braak salvage expedition an instrument by which one "can Locate Lost Gold & Silver that has bin berud for Hunderd of years" (July 24, 1888)
- A handwritten note certifying an investor's financial payout should the Braak yield $10 million in treasure (July 30, 1888)
- A typed letter from James Kane to [Charles A.] Adams, offering Adams command of an 1889 mission to salvage the Braak (October 3, 1888)
- A pamphlet published by the Ocean Wrecking Company providing a brief history of the Braak and of the company's recent efforts to salvage the wreck (1889)
- Four pages of the Boston Sunday Advertiser (December 30, 1928)
- Three pages of pencil notes about the history of the Braak (undated)
- A newspaper clipping regarding the grounding of the Oregon in 1900 (undated; the same article appeared in other American newspapers between September 3 and 5, 1900)
- A newspaper clipping presenting the history of the Braak, printed after the announcement of the Ocean Wrecking Company's efforts (undated; a note on the item indicates that the article may have appeared in the Philadelphia News and a matching article appeared in the Trenton Evening Times on July 9, 1888.)
- Manuscript "Copy of Bearings furnished by Mr. McCracken…who was alongside of the 'Braak' when she sank" (undated)
- 85-page logbook chronicling the steamer City of Long Branch's attempt to find the wreck of the Braak (July 31, 1888-September 24, 1888). In addition to providing daily updates on the ship's position, water depth, and activities onboard the ship, the volume frequently refers to specific dives and other efforts to locate the wreck. Later entries often include information on the financial state of the Ocean Wrecking Company's expedition, and the back of the volume contains a list of the City of Long Branch's specifications, as well as a list of crewmembers and their salaries.