Wreck of the "La Tribune"

This is not about the Acadians...however..it is about the lives of the people at the time when the Acadians were attempting to start their new life after their return. There were still conflicts...and the Acadian's futures were still uncertain. Whenever I dove on the wreck of La Tribune...my mind was always with my Acadian ancestors who had been exiled. As I would knell on the bottom...eighty feet below the warm sun...where some of her remains lay...I'd would think about all those who had lost their lives in ship wrecks while being transported into exile. You are transported back in time...your eyes see things which have not been seen since..in this case 1797...and if you remain still...the only sounds you hear are those of your regulator...your heart beat...and the final prayer of those who left us on that day...


On the 18th June, 1796 while the Acadians were still returning from exile and attempting to put their lives back in order...a sea battle was being waged. His Majesty's 32 gun ship, the H.M.S. Unicorn...was in the process of capturing the French 44 gun frigate...La Tribune.

It is said that La Tribune was one of the finest ships of her type and was quickly commissioned into the English naval fleet to serve on both sides of the Atlantic.

On November 23 rd, 1797...under the command of Captain S. Baker she set sail for Halifax. On route she encountered fair weather...however...as she made the approaches to Halifax harbour the wind changed...and an east south east wind caught her sails. Captain Barker ordered the anchor to be put down and made a decision to wait until he could obtain a pilot to safely guide his vessel into the harbour.

As she lay at anchor...Captain Barker was informed that if was no longer necessary to have a pilot on board as the weather had changed and in was now favourable to enter the harbour.

At this time....John Cafey...a local black who lived in the area where the La Tribune was anchored made his way out to the frigate and introduced himself to Captain Barker...claiming he was very knowledgeable in regards to the approches and offered to guide the frigate into the harbour.

Captain Barker was anxious to make anchor in the safety of the harbour and turned over the safety and his trust to this local man. The Captain went below...and as the vessel made it's way towards the habour she nearly struck the Thrumcap Shoals. This near miss alarmed the master on deck...and he summoned a Mr. Galvin...the master's mate...who it would appear was in his cabin...ill at the time. As Mr. Galvin arrived top side he heard the man on the chains yell out...."by the mark five..."

Cafey...the local who was piloting the frigate...ordered the man at the wheel to "keep her steady"...while Mr. Galvin looked over the side in an attempt to evaluate their situation. He was quick to realize their predicament...and saw what lay ahead. Taking control of the situation...he took hold of the wheel and began to turn the ship in the opposite direction in an attempt to avoid hitting the shoal...however..it was too late...she was doomed...

Captain Barker who was still below when she hit the shoal...with the impact...he rapidly made his way to the deck..and to Mr. Galvin. At this point he questioned Mr. Galvin why he had permitted the frigate to hit the shoal since he had some knowledge of the approaches and the harbour. Mr. Galvin responded by stating he had been below and when he arrived on deck...he had not had enough time to give a proper opinion of the situation at the time she struck.

It's not clear where Mr. Cafey...the local guide was at this time...most likely doing the swammy stroke to shore...

Immediately....the distress signals were sent out. A military fort which was near answered...along with several ships which were laying in the harbour. Eventually...boats were sent out from all the forts and the dockyard in an attempt to rescue La Tribune.

At this point Captian Barker ordered the crew to begin throwing everything overboard to lighten the ship...this included all her guns except for one...which would be kept for signalling...everything else..without exception was to go into the water.

At approximately 8:30 in the evening the ship began to heave..and thirty minutes or so later she driften off the shoal with the help of the tide. By this time...she had approximately seven feet of water in her hold...and her chain pumps were immediately put to service. Initially they seemed to gain on the rising water.

Captian Barker..on the advise of a Mr. Rockum...ordered the cable cut and her jib and fore top mast stay sails were hoisted in an attempt to steer her as she had lost her rudder. As fate would have it...a strong gale from the south east was building up...and she was being carried towards the western shore...the Halifax side of the harbour. By about ten o'clock that evening...the chain pumps could no longer keep up with the incoming water and everyone knew their was little hope for saving the frigate...or the souls who were aboard.

The shore line at this location is rocky and a wind blowing in the direction in was that night...the wave crash onto the rocks with such a force that a person has little chance of holding on to anything...let alone climbing the rock face to safety.

The following is how a survivor described that night...

"One of the men had come to him and said that the ship was going to sink and within a few moments the frigate took a lurch and immediately Mr. Dunlop ascended the fore shroud and at the same time he looked toward the quarter deck and saw Captian Barker standing by the gangway, looking into the water and directly after he heard him call for the jolly boat which was lowered previously with four men in it. Again the vessel lurched and the small boat sank to the bottom, after which neither the captian or any of the other officers were ever seen.

"More than 240 men and several women and children were floating on the waves, trying to make it to shore safely. Mr. Dunlop and Mr. Galvin the master mate after a lot of difficulty managed to get to the shrouds.

"Mr. Galvin was on the main top and Mr. Dunlop on the fore top, there were nearly a hundred people clinging to the shouds and the tops and other parts of the wreck. During the night the storm exhausted itself, but people began dropping off and disappearing from site. There were cries and groans from many and by morning there was a total of eight persons who survived the night.The people of the area came down to shore and lit fires and spoke to those on the wreck, as it was very close to the shore."

At times of tragedies more often then none...we see the real Rambos of this world...the true heroes who do not boast of what they would do...but those who do...and leave it to other's to boast of what they saw. This night was no exception. As the men stood on shore watching the survivors disappear under the cold rough water...they noticed a row boat coming out of the cove. Working frantically against the rough sea...the rower's arms and back were aching...he was scared...he knew he was jeopardizing his own life...but he could no longer simply stand there and watch those people...the women and children...take their last breath and vanish below the waves...

His name was "Joseph Cracker"...a small...young boy from the area. He reached the wreck and brought back as many people as he could carry in his row boat and then returned again for more. He had shamed the men watching on shore..and they too went out in their boats and rescued those still clinking to the wreck.


The lead musket ball I'm holding in my fingers is from the wreck of La Tribune. It was one of about two dozens that I recovered which were in what appeared to be a leather pouch. The pouch disintegrated during the recovery and the ascend to the surface. This is the same kind of musket balls used by the Acadians during the same period...


Another lead musket ball from the La Tribune...I'm using my watch for size comparison...


This is an eight pounder...one of La Tribune's cannon balls. I recovered it at a depth of 65 feet. It took almost two hours of work using a hammer and chisel in four foot underwater visibility...three repetitive dives...and an ascend requiring decompression intervals. When I lifted it up the first thing I noticed was that the "blueing" was still on it...which was a protective coating they used to cover the cannon balls with to protect them from the salt air and water. It was in identical condition as the day it went to the bottom...