‘Like opening the Ark Of The Covenant’: Scientists crack code on treasure ship’s padlock — solving 400-year-old maritime mystery

As if they found the Davey Jones’ locker combination.

Scientists used cutting-edge scanning techniques to crack the code on a shipwreck’s combination padlock that had been buried in the sand for over 400 years.

“I was blown away that we actually cracked it,” Dr David Williams, a research associate based at Cardiff University’s School of Engineering, told the BBC.

The security device belonged to the Ann Francis, a treasure-loaded vessel that sank off the coast of South Wales in December 1583 after getting caught in a fierce storm while returning from Spain.

The ship’s cargo lay untouched on Morfa Beach in Port Talbot until the late 1990s, when it was discovered by metal detectorist Peter Hughes, who found a massive hoard of gold and silver coins, personal belongings, kitchen utensils, along with the aforementioned brass lock.

While the loot was recovered and donated to the Museum Wales in 2017, Hughes failed to hack the ancient safeguard after years of trying.

“I tried to unlock it for about 20 years, I tried moving the dials, finding the right combinations, and I failed,” the 69-year-old lamented, comparing the caper to the “Da Vinci Code.”

Then, recently, a collaborative team from Museum Wales and Cardiff University finally managed to decipher the gadget’s four-letter password: ANCE.

To get to the bottom of the caper, the shipwreck sleuths relied on micro-computed tomography (CT), a scanning technique normally used to examine the human body, the Independent reported.

Williams said he was initially “skeptical” as the tech was “not designed for this particular purpose,” but was nonetheless “open to the challenge.”

Thankfully, by recreating a detailed 3D image of the lock’s internal mechanism, the safecracker was able to see “how the notches lined up with the letters and identify the exact combination.”

This was no mean feat given that the inside featured four rotating rings, each bearing six different letters, yielding a total of 1,296 different combinations (the ancient equivalent of encryption perhaps).

To make things more difficult, there were also letters on the ends that don’t move, suggesting they were decoys used to fool prospective looters.

Dr. Williams said that unveiling the lock of ages’ access code was immensely satisfying, gushing, “It’s not every day you get to solve a 400-year-old mystery.

Meanwhile, the discovery also provided closure for Hughes. “For me, it’s like opening the Ark of the Covenant, and I’m delighted, truly thrilled,” he declared.

It’s yet unclear what the padlock was protecting, but researchers speculate that it could’ve been guarding captain’s chest filled with Spanish silver, high-value textiles, or sensitive maritime documents.

For many experts, the padlock itself was the real buried treasure.

“It was in wonderful condition,” said Museum Wales’ senior curator Siân Iles. “This is a wonderful example of one that still functions as it would have done hundreds of years ago.”

He added, “Because it was found so close to the wreck of the Ann Francis and with all the material that’s part of that collection, it provides a really good context; it allows us to really tightly date it.

The cracked padlock is now on public display at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea.