PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, May 3 (UPI) -- A German treasure hunter has discovered off the coast of Haiti the wreck of a British warship led by the 17th-century privateer Sir Henry Morgan.
The HMS Oxford was found by Rick Haupt, leader of the Oceans Discovery team, the Times of London reported Monday.
Morgan's frigate was sent by the British government to defend Jamaica in 1669 but the Oxford was destroyed in an explosion that killed 350 sailors while Morgan dined in the great cabin.
Morgan, who terrorized Spanish outposts in Cuba and Panama with torture and rape, escaped the explosion and sinking of the 150-foot Oxford.
"There is little doubt from the cannons, brass fittings and English naval anchor that this is the Oxford," Haupt said.
Morgan and his hard-drinking crew were celebrating the capture of two French warships aboard the Oxford when a spark from a pig roast on the deck ignited the forward magazine, blowing off the front third of the ship.
Morgan was catapulted through the window of his cabin. The two captured French warships capsized on top of Oxford and the ship went down. Morgan survived but was never able to locate the Oxford himself.
