Ever wondered if there really is treasure to be found, treasure that the average person could find. Well prepare to be amazed, there are hundreds of shipwrecks all over the world who's cargo of Gold, Silver, and Jewels still lies where the ship carrying them met their demise. We will take a glimpse at two of the largest collective cargo loses ever suffered in recorded navel history.

July 27th 1715

Eleven Spanish ships set sail from Havana, these ships heading back to Spain with cargos of gold, silver and jewels stolen from around the world. The Spanish had been fighting a 30 year war against it's neighbours in Europe. The Spanish were now at war with the Dutch, French and English and was suffering heavy losses. The returning ships were loaded treasure that would pay for it's on going war.

Three days out of Havana a hurricane caught up with the fleet near Florida. Through the night of July 30th the ships were pushed towards the shore and the reefs which run parallel with the coast line. As the ships were pushed into ever shallower water they were swamped by breaking waves and pushed on the waiting reefs. Of the eleven ships, only the Nao Grifon survived.

• The Capitana, a 50 gun frigate struck a reef near Sebastian Inlet. After hitting the outermost reef she spilled some of her cargo. Then in its lightened state the vessel was washed over the first reef into an area between two reefs. There the vessel was smashed to pieces in 15ft of water leaving a trail of gold and silver all the way to the shore. Captain and 225 crew were all killed.
• The Almiranta, was lost in shallow water near the shore.
• The Nuestra Sensora De La Regla, was grounded at the mouth of a river with the loss of 35 crew.
• The Nuestra Sensor De La Nieves and the Santo Cristo Del Valle were wrecked in shallow water somewhere near Fort Pierce
• The Nuestra Sensor Del Carmen Y San Antonio is suspected to have sunk near Sandy Point near Oslo.
• The Almiranta Nuestra Sensora Del Rosario Y San Fransico Xavier, spread her cargo over a huge area about four miles South of Fort Pierce after being battered against a huge reef.
• La Holandesa sank near False Cape although its entire crew were saved.
• The San Miguel was lost without a trace.
• La Francesca was also lost without a trace.
• The Grifon returned to Havana carrying news of the disaster.

About a thousand crew had made it to shore but many died from their injuries. Rescue ships were sent but these did not arrive for several weeks. Some sailors filled their pockets with looted treasure and headed for the Spanish settlement at St Augustine. Spanish soldiers waited for them and executed them as looters on their arrival.

Apart from the items washed up on the beaches it took the Spanish until 1716 to start the salvage operation. Many of the wrecks had been plundered. Once the Spanish found a ship pirates and raiders would plunder the site and raid the camps on shore.

Salvage continued until 1719 with an estimated $7,000,000 in treasure being recovered.

To give an indication of how much treasure was un recovered, the Almiranta alone had 990 registered chests on board. Only 136 of these were recovered at the time. These ship had been delayed on there return to Spain by about 1 year and it is known that much unregistered cargo was also on board.

July 14th 1733

Twenty two Spanish ships were heading for Spain with their cargo holds fully laden. The storm hit during the night and continued throughout the following day. Eighteen of the ships were lost along the florida coast in one of the greatest loses ever suffered by an armada.

Although the Spanish spent much time salvaging cargo from these ships it was with Indian skin divers who would hold their breath and dive down to the wreck then feel around in the sand and bring up whenever they found.

After this the Spanish wrecks were forgotten about for over two hundred years. In the 1960's and 70's local divers began looking for the wrecks. Soon after salvage companies started using modern techniques to search the bottom for the treasure.

Although most of these wrecks have been found and searched, it is unlikely that all their cargo will ever be recovered. The opportunity exists for weekend divers to have a good chance of finding items at these sites.

Whilst the sites of many of the 1733 armada are known; the difficult task of identifying which ship is at which site is an area of discussion which will continue. Some of the bigger piles of ballast stones used in these ships reduce the list of possibilities. However due to some of the irresponsible salvage methods used in the past including dynamite, it has made some identifications impossible.

The Bahamas with its shallow shoals and corals heads just under the water was a dangerous area which Spanish treasure ships navigated to find their way to the Atlantic. Whilst in daylight many obstacles could be easily seen, nighttime was a dangerous time. Winds and currents could push ships off the safe rum line and in to reefs or shallows. Just recently a ship wreck was discovered at the entrance to a busy harbour. The yet to be identified ship was laying in 12 feet of water. In the 200 years since it sank thousand of people have traveled unknowingly with a few feet of its hidden cargo.

NOTE - Rum line was the name given to the tried and tested passages used by the rum runners, ships transporting rum round the world. This term is still used today when traveling a known passage line between two points.

Europe and its coast lines are the the resting place of at least 68 vessels. King Philips armada was no match for the tempests of 1588 which left the fleet battered or sunk. Almost all these vessels carried gold and treasure and estimates put today's value at $15,000,000.

Related Reading

If the subject of lost treasure interests you get a copy of "The Treasure Diver's Guide" by John S Potter Jr it's a fantastic resource of facts and figures and stories about our sunken past. ISDN091245122X