More than 400 years after the sinking of the Anne Francis, researchers managed to unlock a brass padlock found among its wreckage off the coast of Wales. The four-letter code is ANCE, and the mechanism was studied without causing any physical damage to the historic object.
The padlock is part of a find connected to the ship, which sank in a powerful storm on December 28, 1583. The Anne Francis was returning from Spain to England when it was blown off course and wrecked near Margam beach, close to present-day Port Talbot.
The code was deciphered using micro-CT scanning
Teams from Cardiff University and Amgueddfa Cymru used micro-CT scanning to create a three-dimensional image of the inside of the padlock. The technology made it possible to see how the notches in the internal mechanism aligned with the letters on the rotating discs.
“By creating a detailed three-dimensional image of the internal mechanism, I was able to see how the notches aligned with the letters and determine the exact combination,” says Dr David Williams, a research fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Engineering. He notes that until now, this technology has mainly been used to study bones and other biological structures.
Once the code had been deciphered, the museum team entered it and the padlock opened.
“You don’t solve a 400-year-old mystery every day,” Williams adds.
The object was found near Spanish silver coins and two coin-weight stones. According to museum specialists, it probably secured a small chest containing valuables, documents or textiles that have not survived.
A significant part of the treasure was discovered by metal detectorist Peter Hughes. Amgueddfa Cymru says the finds were collected between 1996 and 2017 and include around 870 gold and silver coins, personal belongings, ship equipment and vessels dating from the late 15th and 16th centuries.
According to the BBC, Hughes discovered the padlock itself in 1999 and spent around two decades trying to find the correct combination. “With the help of modern technology, we managed to crack something like a code devised by Leonardo da Vinci,” he told the broadcaster.
The padlock is among the artifacts from the Anne Francis displayed at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The exhibition also includes rare gold coins from the time of the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella, silver coins, a boatswain’s whistle and other objects from the ship.
Deciphering the code does not answer the question of exactly what was in the chest, but it removes one of the oldest mysteries surrounding the find. The padlock itself is no longer merely an object from a shipwreck, but evidence of how 16th-century merchants protected goods and valuables during sea voyages.