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wrecker

A scavenger or salvager of shipwrecks.[1]

The Wrecker: In December of 1871,[2] Bret Maverick believed he could buy the wreck of the Flying Scud for $300, but found himself in a bidding war with Thomas Bellairs who bif the price up to over $20,000. Believing there must be something in the shipwreck far beyond the value of her reported cargo of rice and fine silk, Brother Bart chartered the Norah Creina to take him to Midway island where he could supervise the wreck's salvaging. Once aboard the Flying Scud, Bart, Captain Nares and Paul Carthew found only the reported rice and silk in the ship's hold. Bart ordered the ship torn apart, expecting something far more valuable to be hidden somewhere aboard. Eventually, opium was discovered hidden inside the bales of rice.[3]