Nigel Pickford

I am a maritime historian and internationally famous expert on locating lost shipwrecks. My research in archives around the world has led to over 100 fascinating and valuable discoveries, including the ship of Vasco de Gama's uncle which wrecked in 1503 in the Indian Ocean, HMS Gloucester which foundered with huge loss of life in the North Sea in 1682 while carrying the Duke of York, later James II, the Chinese junk Tek Sing lost in 1822 in the South China Sea with an amazing porcelain cargo, and RMS Douro which sank in the Bay of Biscay in 1882 with a large cargo of gold. My latest book 'Samuel Pepys and the Strange Wrecking of the Gloucester' tells the story behind the fatal last voyage of the Gloucester, the discovery of which is of huge historical importance.