Revised List of Antarctic Historic Sites and Monuments: San Telmo Wreck
The Representatives,
Recalling the requirements of Article 8 of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty to maintain a list of current Historic Sites and Monuments (“HSMs”) and that such sites shall not be damaged, removed or destroyed;
Recalling
- Measure 12 (2019), which revised and updated the List of HSMs, and subsequent Measures which have added further HSMs to the List of HSMs;
- Resolution 2 (2018), which recommended non-mandatory Guidelines for assessment and management of Heritage in Antarctica;
- Recommend to their Governments the following Measure for approval in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 8 of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty:
That the following be added to the List of Historic Sites and Monuments:
“San Telmo Wreck.
The earliest records of the wreck are found in contemporary British documentation at the time of the loss; Captain Smith is recorded to have made two landings at Shirreff Cove and to have found the remains of a wreck that still preserved inscriptions from the sunken ship, the San Telmo.
On 4 September 1819, the Spanish vessel San Telmo found itself alone and adrift in the middle of a terrible storm. The ship disappeared with a crew of 644 men: sailors, soldiers and marines. It is a State Ship and a Collective Military Tomb.
The history of human presence in Antarctica is very short and the remains of the San Telmo ship, if found, could be considered the first human remains in Antarctica. The ship and its artefacts are archaeologically significant in themselves, having been submerged for more than 100 years, which is a widely accepted international threshold for constituting underwater heritage. The wreck includes all parts and accessories related to the vessel, armaments, equipment, supplies, as well as the ship itself and the crew and military staff transported within. The designation also includes all the personal objects that the crew would have left in the ship when it sank.”
Location: The location of the last sighting of the San Telmo vessel corresponds to 62ºS 70ºW, a point where the winds and currents inevitably lead north of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands (Don Álvaro de Bazán General Archive of the Spanish Navy).
Original Proposing Party: Spain
Party undertaking management: Spain.
The Representatives,
Recalling the requirements of Article 8 of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty to maintain a list of current Historic Sites and Monuments (“HSMs”) and that such sites shall not be damaged, removed or destroyed;
Recalling
- Measure 12 (2019), which revised and updated the List of HSMs, and subsequent Measures which have added further HSMs to the List of HSMs;
- Resolution 2 (2018), which recommended non-mandatory Guidelines for assessment and management of Heritage in Antarctica;
- Recommend to their Governments the following Measure for approval in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 8 of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty:
That the following be added to the List of Historic Sites and Monuments:
“San Telmo Wreck.
The earliest records of the wreck are found in contemporary British documentation at the time of the loss; Captain Smith is recorded to have made two landings at Shirreff Cove and to have found the remains of a wreck that still preserved inscriptions from the sunken ship, the San Telmo.
On 4 September 1819, the Spanish vessel San Telmo found itself alone and adrift in the middle of a terrible storm. The ship disappeared with a crew of 644 men: sailors, soldiers and marines. It is a State Ship and a Collective Military Tomb.
The history of human presence in Antarctica is very short and the remains of the San Telmo ship, if found, could be considered the first human remains in Antarctica. The ship and its artefacts are archaeologically significant in themselves, having been submerged for more than 100 years, which is a widely accepted international threshold for constituting underwater heritage. The wreck includes all parts and accessories related to the vessel, armaments, equipment, supplies, as well as the ship itself and the crew and military staff transported within. The designation also includes all the personal objects that the crew would have left in the ship when it sank.”
Location: The location of the last sighting of the San Telmo vessel corresponds to 62ºS 70ºW, a point where the winds and currents inevitably lead north of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands (Don Álvaro de Bazán General Archive of the Spanish Navy).
Original Proposing Party: Spain
Party undertaking management: Spain.
