Henry Morgan: Henry Morgan's cannons found in Panama - latimes.com
 Frederick Hanselmann prepares a canon for lifting off Lajas Reef in Panama. (Donnie Reid) |
In the late 1600s, Morgan sent three ships and a crew of 470 men to capture the Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real de Chagres, a fort that guarded the approach to Panama City, the capital. Morgan and his men were sailing up the Chagres River to join them when his flagship, the Satisfaction, and at least three other vessels crashed on Lajas Reef, sinking in shallow water.
Members of Morgan's force paddled upriver and walked overland to reach Panama City, which they successfully sacked. But their wrecked ships were abandoned and left to amateur archaeologists and looters.
"Every school kid learns about Morgan's activities, but we have never seen any of his materials," said archaeologist Tomas Mendizibal, a research associate at Patronato Panama Viejo, a government agency that is overseeing excavation of the original site of Panama City. "If these are indeed his cannons, it would be a first." Mendizibal was not involved in the discovery.
