On Dec. 27, 1693, HMS Sussex, proud flagship of a powerful Royal Navy fleet, sailed from England's waters for Spain. She was escorting 166 merchant ships along the threatening Atlantic coast where French cruisers preyed upon the weak or unwary in this fifth year of the War of the League of Augsburg. English housewives near Dover a few weeks earlier sent word to King William III they had heard and seen the explosions of a British naval raid on a French coastal city, and fleet Admiral Sir Francis Wheeler surely knew Louis XIV's French captains wanted revenge.

But Admiral Wheeler's squadron never entered into battle with the French. Perhaps it was prudence and a secret mission of historic importance that stayed this able and aggressive commander's hand when enemy sails fluttered temptingly on the horizon during the convoy to Cadiz.

Aboard the Sussex, Wheeler bore a sheaf of orders directing his command of a squadron of more than 40 warships. Among those orders were instructions to support the Duke of Savoy, leader of a vital country in "The Grand Alliance" of nations arrayed with England in the war with France. When the Sussex sank in a storm on Feb. 19, 1694, with Wheeler's orders not yet executed, the strategic goals of the European allies may have been doomed. Eventually, Savoy deserted the alliance and the long, bloody and costly war ended in stalemate in 1697.

Whether the loss of HMS Sussex and frustration of her mission changed history is a question that may be solved only when the ship's wreck is archaeologically excavated. The evidence of the records suggests that Wheeler secretly carried with him a huge amount of money to guarantee Savoy's loyalty after the King of France offered the Duke an immense bribe to leave the alliance. If the Sussex carried a large cargo of money, it could be physical proof she was to deliver funds for Savoy - and that the loss of the money turned the tide of the war. History shows the allies did indeed try to buy Savoy's commitment, and that the Duke never received their money.

Historians have combed the archives and discovered historical records that suggest a million pounds sterling was destined for Savoy. That amount would have just about equaled the bribe Louis XIV offered the Duke to quit the fight, an offer British court records say amounted to "3 millions of money and 6 tunn of gold." Other court records show that just as Wheeler's fleet was assembling to sail for the Mediterranean, a million pounds was being collected at the Exchequer, that "a great summ of money is sending hence for Savoy," and that an order was sent to the Exchequer to issue "a million pounds in money for the use of the Fleet."

In addition, Savoy was demanding money for the foreign troops he hired to oppose the Louis XIV's huge army. The weakly-defended southern border of France with Savoy absorbed 107 battalions of troops, cavalry and artillery which might have brought Louis victory had they been in the field against the allies. So England, Holland, Spain, Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire gladly subsidized Savoy's mercenary forces. Archival documents suggest Sussex may also have been delivering an overdue payroll to the Duke.

But nature intervened in the affairs of nations when a violent storm blew out of the North African coast. The tempest sent the Sussex to the bottom of the sea with as many as 600 men - only two survived the shipwreck. In all, the fleet lost at least 13 ships and about 1,250 people. It was a disaster recorded in the day's papers and cried from the street corners.

In a letter to the French Crown, a diplomat in the Italian port of Livorno indicated that he was shocked by the immensity of the disaster. Yet he could not help but note that it was good news for his country, writing, "The Admiral Ship of England…was lost in the storm…only two moors were saved. There was on the ship a million Piastres of which 800,000 were for the Duke of Savoy and the rest for the Marquis of Leganez and others private." Little did the French writer know that his letter would spur Odyssey on a search that resulted in the discovery of a shipwreck 3,000 feet deep in the Mediterranean sea - a shipwreck believed to be that of HMS Sussex.

From the vantage of three centuries later, the view looms even more tragic, for if the Sussex sank with that secret shipment, then her loss changed the course of world affairs. The War of the League of Augsburg lasted nine years and was the first of what Americans know as the "French and Indian Wars." Since the issues of empire and domination were never resolved in the struggle between 1688 and 1697, two more wars would follow in relatively short time. Historians can only look back at the remarkable events of the 1690's and wonder - "What if -?"

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