Sunken Treasure of Hell Gate November 23, 1780 Sir Charles Pole ignores his pilot, a local slave named Bill and sails east through Hell Gate Hussar was swept onto Pot Rock and began sinking. Pole was unable to run her aground and she sank in 90 feet of water. Monday, January 14, 2013
A British warship sank in New York City waters possibly carrying millions in payroll gold in 1780. Despite tantalizing clues, including a canon from the ship held by the city the treasure, if it exists, has never been found.
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Sunken Treasure of Hell GateNovember 23, 1780
Sir Charles Pole ignores his pilot, a local slave named Bill and
sails east through Hell Gate
Hussar was swept onto Pot Rock and began sinking. Pole was unable to run her aground and she sank in 90 feet of water.
“A tall, intelligent Negro, belonging to the Hunt family of the Bronx.”
Black Jacks guided ships through New York harbor.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Deceptively serene the waters of Hell
Gate were treacherous. On
Wards Island Negro Point and Negro Point
Bluff may hearken back to the days when local slaves
piloted ships safely past submerged
hazards.
1885 demolition of Pot Rock in Hell GateMonday, January 14, 2013
As the slave of a naval captain, Olaudah Equiano was trained in seamanship and traveled extensively with his master. He was sold to Robert King, a Quaker merchant from Philadelphia who traded in the Caribbean. King enabled Equiano to buy his freedom, which he achieved by his early twenties. Equiano travelled to London and became involved in the abolitionist movement, which had been particularly strong amongst Quakers.
Black Jacks are slaves and freemen trained as sailors, pilots and at times captains
(c. 1745 – 31 March 1797)
Many royal naval vessels were piloted by blacks -- some of them runaways, other enslaved to loyalist masters, and still others pressed into service.
The Newport Historical Society
Although Black seamen performed a range of duties,
usually the most menial ones, they were particularly valued