The British 32-gun frigate, H.M.S. Lutine was launched at Brest in 1785, as La Lutine for the French Royal Navy. This was just four years before the French Revolution. The name means Sprite. On December 18, 1793, she became one of sixteen ships handed over to a British fleet under Vice Admiral Samuel Hood at Toulon by French royalists. Frigate is a name which has been used for several distinct types of warships at different times. ... His or Her Majestys Ship (HMS) is the title of any commissioned ship in the British Royal Navy, and refers to the King or Queen of the United Kingdom as appropriate at the time. ... Location within France Brest, at the tip of Brittany Brest is a city in the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. ... 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house. ... The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period in the history of France. ... December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Vice Admiral is a naval rank of three star level, equivalent to Lieutenant General in seniority. ... Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, 1724–1816 by James Northcote, painted 1784. ... Location within France Coat of Arms of Toulon Toulon (Tolon in Provençal) is a city in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. ...

Service in Northern Europe

During the Anglo-Russian campaign against the French Republican forces in Holland, she served as an escort, guiding transports in and out of the shoal waters around North Holland North Holland (Dutch: Noord-Holland) is a province of the Netherlands, located in the northwest part of the country. ...

In 1799 she was employed in carrying about £1,125,000 in bullion and coin from Yarmouth to Cuxhaven for the purpose of supporting German banks in the climate of monetary inflation brought about by the French Revolutionary wars. In the evening of October 9, 1799, during a heavy north-westerly gale, the ship under Captain Lancelot Skynner, having made un-expected leeway, was drawn by the tidal stream flowing into the Waddenzee, onto a sandbank off the island of Terschelling. There, she became a total loss. All but one of her 200 passengers and crew perished in the breaking seas. 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... A precious metal is a rare metallic element of high, durable economic value. ... word coinage Coín (a town in Malaga province in Spain) 25¢ Canadian coin A coin is usually a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is issued by a government to be used as a form of money. ... Map sources for Great Yarmouth at grid reference TG5207 Great Yarmouth is an English coastal town (population 47288) in the county of Norfolk. ... Cuxhaven beach at sunset Cuxhaven is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, with about 55000 inhabitants. ... A bank is an institution that provides financial service, particularly taking deposits and extending credit. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (283rd in Leap years). ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... A gale is a wind of at least 28 knots, 32 MPH, or 51km/h; and up to 55 knots, 63 MPH, or 102km/h. ... Captain is both a nautical term and a military rank. ... The tide is the regular rising and falling of the oceans surface caused by changes in gravitational forces external to the Earth. ... The Wadden Sea (Wattenmeer in German, Waddenzee in Dutch, Waadsee in Frisian, Wattensee in Low Saxon, Vadehavet in Danish) is the name for a body of water and its associated coastal wetlands lying between a section of the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the North Sea. ... Terschelling (Frisian: Skylge) is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. ...

The loss was reported by Captain Portlock, commander of the British squadron at Vlieland, who wrote to the Admiralty in London: Captain is both a nautical term and a military rank. ... Vlieland (Frisian: Flylân) is a municipality in the northern Netherlands. ... Old Admiralty House, Whitehall, London, Thomas Ripley, architect, 1723-26, was not admired by his contemporaries and earned him some scathing couplets from Alexander Pope The Admiralty was historically the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

Sir, It is with extreme pain that I have to state to you the melancholy fate of his majesty’s Ship Lutine, which ship ran onto the outer banks of the Fly Island Passage on the night of the 9th. Instant heavy gale of wind from the NNW and I am much afraid the crew except one man, which was save from the wreck, have perished… This man when taken up was almost exhausted. He is of present tolerably recovered, and relates that the Lutine left Yarmouth Roads on the Morning of the 9th instant, bound to Texel, and she had on board Considerable quantity of Money….

More than a hundred victims were buried near a lake in the dunes of Terschelling. This lake is known today as the "doodemanskisten" (dead man's coffins) because it is also close to the place from which the wood for the coffins originated.

The failure of the gold to arrive precipitated the very crisis that it had been designed to prevent.

The Gold

The gold was insured by Lloyd's of London, who paid the claim in full. The underwriters therefore owned the gold under rights of subrogation and later attempted to salvage it. Despite extended operations, over £1,000,000 remained unsalved. It seems that the precious cargo had been carried aft in the officers' quarters and that this part of the ship had broken away during the wreck or soon after and that the salvors had been working in the wrong place. Lloyd’s Building, London (with the blue cranes). ... Subrogation is best known as a concept of insurance law, although it can be applied outside the law of insurance, although the general laws against maintenance and champerty would otherwise prevent such an arrangement. ... Salvage is the process of rescuing the hull, equipment or cargo of a shipwreck or abandoned vessel. ... Cargo is a term used to denotes goods or produce being transported generally for commercial gain, usually on a ship, plane, train or lorry. ...

Salvage was particularly difficult because the wreck was embedded in sand in 9 fathoms of water, in an area of strong tidal currents. In 1886 a cannon was salvaged and presented by Lloyd's to Queen Victoria: it is now on display at Windsor Castle. 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Lloyd’s Building, London (with the blue cranes). ... Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ... An early 18th century view of Windsor Castle by Kip and Knyff. ...

A brief history of the loss and salvage attempts is given in the preamble to the Lloyd's Act, 1871: 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

And whereas in or about the year 1799 a vessel of war of the Royal Navy, named the Lutine, was wrecked on the coast of Holland with a considerable amount of specie on board, insured by underwriters at Lloyd's, being members of the Society, and others, and Holland being then at war with this country the vessel and cargo were captured, and some years afterwards the King of the Netherlands authorized certain undertakers to attempt the further salvage of the cargo on the conditions (among others) that they should pay all expenses, and that one half of all that should be recovered should belong to them, and that the other half should go to the Government of the Netherlands, and subsequently the King of the Netherlands ceded to King George the Fourth on behalf of the Society of Lloyd's, the share in the cargo which had been so reserved to the Government of the Netherlands: George IV (George Augustus Frederick) (12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Hanover from 29 January 1820. ...

And whereas from time to time operations of salving from the wreck of the Lutine have been carried on, and a portion of the sum recovered, amounting to about twenty-five thousand pounds, is by virtue of the cession aforesaid in the custody or under the control of the Committee for managing the affairs of Lloyd's: [...]

And whereas it is expedient that the operations of salving from the wreck of the Lutine be continued, and that provision be made for the application in that behalf, as far as may be requisite, of money that may hereafter be received from those operations, and for the application to public or other purposes of the aforesaid sum of twenty-five thousand pounds, and of the unclaimed residue of money to be hereafter received as aforesaid [...]

The ownership of the remaining, unsalved, gold is vested in the Society of Lloyd's, under the terms of the Lloyd's Act, 1871, s.35: 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Salvage operations as to wreck of Lutine The Society may from time to time do or join in doing all such lawful things as they think expedient with a view to further salving from the wreck of the Lutine, and hold, receive, and apply for that purpose so much of the money to be received by means of salving therefrom as they from time to time think fit, and the nett money produced thereby, and the said sum of twenty-five thousand pounds, shall be applied for purposes connected with shipping or marine insurance, according to a scheme to be prepared by the Society, and confirmed by Order of Her Majesty in Council, on the recommendation of the Board of Trade, after or subject to such public notice to claimants of any part of the money aforesaid to come in, and such investigation of claims, and any such barring of claims not made or not proved, and such reservation of rights (if any), as the Board of Trade think fit.

The Lutine Bell

The ship's bell (hung forward and engraved "ST. JEAN - 1799") was recovered and re-hung on the rostrum of the Underwriting Room at Lloyds. It weighs 106 lbs. (48kg.) and is 18 inches (46 cm.) in diameter. It remains a mystery why the name on the bell is not the same as the name of the ship. The bell was traditionally struck when news of an overdue ship arrived - once for bad news, and twice for good news. The bell was sounded to ensure that all brokers and underwriters are made aware of the news simultaneously. The bell has developed a crack and the traditional practice if ringing news has ended: the last time it was rung to tell of a lost ship was in 1979 and the last time it was rung to herald the return of an overdue ship was in 1989. A bell is a simple sound-making device. ... Rostrum can mean one of several different things: A rostrum (Latin beak) is an anatomical structure resembling a birds beak, such as the snout of crocodiles or dolphins or the part of the carapace of a crustacean. ... // Securities underwriting Securities underwriting is a way of placing a newly issued security, such as stocks or bonds, with investors. ... In commerce, a broker is a party that mediates between a buyer and a seller. ... Debt & Equity underwriting Debt and equity underwriting is the concept of securing the price and sale of a new issue of stocks or bonds. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

It is now rung for ceremonial purposes to commemorate disasters such as the 9/11 disaster, the Asian Tsunami, the London Bombings and is always rung at the start and end of the two minutes silence on the aniversary of Armistice Day. Armistice Day is the anniversary of Henry Wen, March 4th, 1993. ...

The bell has hung in four successive Lloyd's Underwriting Rooms: Lloyds of London is a British insurance market. ...

• The Royal Exchange 1890s - 1928,
• Lloyd's building in Leadenhall Street 1928-1958,
• Lloyd's first Lime Street headquarters 1958-1986
• The present Lloyd's building on Lime Street since 1986

There is also a chair and table at Lloyd's made from the rudder of the frigate. The rudder was salvaged in 1858. 1890 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Lloyds of London is a British insurance market. ... Leadenhall Street is a principal street of the City of London. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lloyds of London is a British insurance market. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lloyds of London is a British insurance market. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The worlds oldest depiction of a rudder. ... 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

Links

• Circumstances surrounding the wreck

• History of salvage attempts