CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Birkbeck Institutional Research Online Birkbeck ePrints BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online Enabling open access to Birkbeck’s published research output Shipwreck and salvage in the tropics: the case of HMS Thetis, 1830–1854 Journal Article http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/4118 Version: Author’s Final (Refereed) Citation: Driver, F.; Martins, L. (2006) Shipwreck and salvage in the tropics: the case of HMS Thetis, 1830- 1854 – Journal of Historical Geography 32(3), pp. 539-562 © 2006 Elsevier Publisher version ______________________________________________________________ All articles available through Birkbeck ePrints are protected by intellectual property law, including copyright law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. ______________________________________________________________ Deposit Guide Contact:
[email protected] Shipwreck and Salvage in the Tropics: The Case of HMS Thetis, 1830-1854 Draft of an article published in Journal of Historical Geography 32:3 (2006), 539-562. Authors Felix Driver and Luciana Martins Address Felix Driver Department of Geography Royal Holloway, University of London Egham Surrey TW20 0EX
[email protected] Luciana Martins School of Languages, Linguistics and Culture Birkbeck, University of London 43 Gordon Square London WC1H 0PD
[email protected] Shipwreck and Salvage in the Tropics: The Case of HMS Thetis, 1830-1854 Abstract In 1830, the British frigate HMS Thetis was wrecked at Cabo Frio, on the Brazilian coast. A British naval force was subsequently despatched to undertake a major salvage operation which lasted for well over a year. The substantial textual and visual archive associated with the case of the Thetis raises wider questions about the entanglement of naval, scientific, artistic, financial and legal concerns in an age of British maritime expansion.