French gunboat Aigrette identified near Bar shipwreck

Archaeologists and maritime historians from Montenegro and France have identified a long-unidentified shipwreck located near Bar, Montenegro. The wreck, resting at a depth of approximately 50 meters southwest of Cape Volujica, has been a mystery since it was first discovered during a television production in the mid-1990s.

Using advanced multibeam sonar to create detailed three-dimensional images, researchers compared the wreck's dimensions with French archival data. They determined the vessel is the “Aigrette,” a French sail-and-steam gunboat built in 1855. The ship was part of the “Étincelle” class, a series of 12 small wooden gunboats constructed in Le Havre for operations in shallow waters during the Crimean War.

Previously, speculation suggested the wreck might be a Turkish vessel lost during the Great War between the Principality of Montenegro and the Ottoman Empire (1876-1878). The “Aigrette” was a 350-ton vessel equipped with two masts, a Creusot steam engine, and four 194 mm smoothbore guns.