Researchers are trying to discover what happened to the Fougueux, a French navy 74-gun ship that sunk after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. After surrendering its flag, it was captured and towed by the British enemies.

The ship, after it was captured by the English was left adrift during a storm. It ran aground near to the Sancti Petri Castle where, it is believed, it broke up and the remains were scattered and transported by the storm towards the coast where they they have remained until today. The researchers of the University of Cadiz and the the Andalusian Centre for Underwater Archaeology study the remains from this ship in Bajo de Las Morenas and other wrecks in the Bay of Cadiz area. They discovered 32 of the 74 cannons as well as one of five or six anchors. The researchers also found information about three possible shipwrecked vessels in the area: Fougueux, Montblanc and Agile. In a geomagnetic and bathymetric survey of the most probable area, four groups of archaeological remains including 40 guns and 5 anchors similar to those previously found in the Bajo de las Morenas area, were found a certain distance from the beach. According to the hypothesis of the researchers, these were the remains that were still to be found from the Fougueux, about two thirds of the vessel.

(after Heritage Daily)