What true story does the "Medusa Shipwreck" describe?

More than 160 years later, the wreckage of the three-masted battleship "Medusa" was actually found. In the winter of 1980, three French sailing ships set out from Derochefort with sophisticated detection instruments. According to navigation records, they arrived at the place where the Medusa died at 19°53′42″ north latitude and 19°20 west longitude. ’34″, looking for definite evidence 50 kilometers off the coast of Mauritania. From November 4, 1980 to January 5, 1981, they successively salvaged a large number of warship wreckage near Brown Strait, including old iron anchors, lead deck scuppers, and 18th-century copper ship nails. and bronze cannons, and many bricks.

According to the memories of those who escaped at the time, on the night of June 30, 1816, a fire broke out in the bread oven on the "Medusa" ship, and the people on the ship destroyed the oven. These bricks have finally seen the light of day and become witnesses of history. In addition, many fragments of dishes and heavy ballast stones were found. Among all the treasures recovered, the most convincing is a copper ship nail with the inscription FR (ie Fozged de Rochefort Smithy). According to some maritime historians, "Medusa" "It was built in De Rochefort in 1810. It was a 50-meter-long three-masted warship. It sailed smoothly, safely and at high speed. Napoleon once wanted to escape to America on this ship.

Certain times in history should never be forgotten! On June 17, 1816, the French government cruiser "Medusa" flew with a white signal flag and carried more than 400 officers and soldiers to Senegal in Africa. Captain Chaumaré is a mediocre and incompetent fugitive nobleman who knows nothing about navigation and is deaf to the opinions of other sailors. He was blindly commanding the ship and unfortunately ran aground while passing through Brown Strait on the coast of West Africa. After two days of chaotic and ineffective efforts, people had to abandon the ship and escape.

This fatuous aristocratic captain led senior officers to escape in a lifeboat, and the remaining 150 crew members and soldiers had to urgently build a large raft. When they jumped on the raft, they cheered with joy: "Long live the king!" However, after the continuous hopeless bumps, hunger, thirst and scorching heat, many people began to talk nonsense and fell into illusions. The mechanical engineer felt like he was traveling on the plains of Italy. An officer said: "I wrote a letter to the governor, and someone came to rescue us immediately. But the baker, convinced that there was no possibility of rescue, threw himself into the rolling waves. Several people pried open the barrels, drank themselves drunk, and tried to Forget the pain of death. Unexpectedly, they went crazy, cut the cable, and asked everyone to stop it. A fierce fight broke out. After being thrown into the sea, a mechanic named Dominic screamed for help. The engineer took pity on him, jumped into the water, grabbed his hair, and dragged him back to the raft. But the ungrateful guy joined in a second riot that night after he woke up. After the three riots subsided, there were corpses on the raft. The raft was filled with sea water, and the soldiers' wounds were soaked in salt water, and they screamed endlessly.

The 15 people who were finally rescued had lived on land for many years. They planted trees every year, which was said to be for the sake of peace. To commemorate the dead, it is also said that they were preparing to build a raft because they never felt safe.

This shipwreck aroused strong dissatisfaction among the French and was condemned by public opinion from all walks of life. —The doctor Henry Savine and the engineer Alexander Creyard, despite the authorities' ban, recorded the entire process of the shipwreck in detail. Soon, the texts were translated into English and German and published.