Judge: France Owns 'Most Historically Important Shipwreck'

The wreck of a three-masted ship that sank in 1565 rests a stone's throw from a Cape Canaveral beach in less than 33 feet of water. It holds three bronze cannons, worth more than $1 million each, along with untold treasures. Yet since the discovery of La Trinite in 2016, none of these treasures have been raised. That's because a seven-year battle has been raging over who can claim ownership of what's been described as "the single most historically important shipwreck in North America." That battle, however, may now be resolved. Late last month, Judge Allen Winsor of the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida concluded the wreck belongs to France under the 2004 Sunken Military Craft Act, "which recognizes the sovereignty of a country over its former warships," per AFP.

It was what France and Florida had claimed all along, per the Guardian. But in the most recent court battle, Global Marine Exploration, the private company that discovered the wreck, argued La Trinite wasn't a warship, as France and its colonizing rival Spain weren't at war when it sank in a hurricane along with three other ships, ultimately allowing Spain to capture and destroy the French colony of Fort Caroline (present-day Jacksonville). However, records disputed that. According to Jim Goold, a lawyer representing the French, La Trinite had engaged in a conflict between French Protestants and Spain's Catholic monarchy. When the ship set out from Fort Caroline, its captain had "informed the French commander of the fort that he was going to attack the Spanish," Goold said.

"France has presented sufficient uncontested evidence to establish La Trinite sank while on military noncommercial service, meaning La Trinite is a 'sunken military craft,'" Judge Winsor wrote in a Sept. 29 decision, per AFP. He also rebutted GME's claim that France had improperly benefited from its efforts to find and explore the wreck, saying the country hadn't ordered the work and couldn't be responsible for it. "This decision is a relief, and we hope that this legal saga will now stop, so that we can concentrate on the preservation of these elements of cultural heritage," Florence Hermite, a legal attache at the French Embassy, tells AFP. It's unclear if the wreck or its treasures will be raised. Florida's 11th Judicial Circuit previously found France had entered into an agreement with Florida to recover the remains. (More shipwrecks stories.)