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Spanish Galleons
Florida is famous for its fabled
treasure of Spanish galleons. Florida's
coastline is dotted with more
colonial Spanish wrecks than any
other state in the nation, primarily
because of three treasure fleet
disasters.
 In
1622, 1715, and again in 1733, Spain
suffered horrible economic blows
when the treasure Spanish galleons fleet or
flotas entered Florida waters
and were destroyed by hurricanes.
The 1622 fleet was scattered across
the lower Florida Keys and the Dry
Tortugas. The 1715 fleet wrecked
along the Atlantic coast of southern
Florida, on what is now known as the
Treasure Coast. And finally, the
1733 fleet met its fate along the
upper Florida Keys, from modern
Grassy Key to upper Key Largo.
The 1622, 1715, and 1733 flotas
were an integral part of an economic
system that had developed early in
the three centuries of Spanish rule
in the New World. A pattern of
trade, controlled strictly by the
Spanish crown, had evolved based on
the policies of the day. Spain's
policy was to establish a monopoly,
keeping her colonies dependent on
her. This monopoly was eventually
challenged successfully by English
and Dutch traders, but by law
Spanish colonials could trade only
with the authorized Spanish merchant
Spanish galleons flotas. As early as the 16th
century a law was passed by the
Casa de Contratacion, or "House
of Trade," which called for the
periodic sailing of fleets from
Spain to the Caribbean twice a year
(though they hardly ever sailed on
schedule). The fleets of Spanish
galleons carried
manufactured goods for sale to the
citizens of the New World, and were
then filled with the rich treasures
of the Americas for transport back
to Spain.
The typical fleet consisted of
several types of ships. Heavily
armed Spanish galleons served as protection
for the bulk of the fleet, merchant
naos. The only difference
between the nao and galleon
was the amount of armament carried.
Several pataches, small
reconnaissance vessels, also
accompanied the fleet, as well as
resfuerzos or supply ships.. The
fleet was led by the Capitana,
or flagship, and the Almiranta,
or vice-flagship.
The fleet would leave Spain (first
from Seville and later Cadiz), sail
down the coast of Africa until the
reached the Cape Verde Islands. Here
they sailed west with the prevailing
tradewinds until they entered the
Caribbean. At that point the ships
split into two separate fleets, the
Nueva Espana flota and the
Tierra Firme flota (after 1648
it was called Los Galeones).
The first fleet sailed to Mexico (Nueva
Espana)'s port of Vera Cruz,
while the second fleet visited the
South American mainland ports of
Cartagena, Nombe de Dios, and Porto
Bello.
In these ports, the ships traded
manufactured goods for the wealth of
the Indies, such items as gold,
silver, emeralds and other
gemstones, hides, exotic woods,
copper, tobacco, sugar, cochineal,
indigo, and other valuables. In
additions to these goods, another
Spanish fleet called the Manila
Galleons crossed the Pacific and
sent treasures from the Orient to
Acapulco and then to the Caribbean
flotas. These commodities
included such materials as ginger,
cowrie shells, porcelains, silks,
velvets, damasks, drugs, pearls, and
ivory.
The great flota system reached it
height between 1590 and 1600. Then,
over the next century the system
began to slowly decline. Spain's
leadership weakened and her debts
increased, colonial mines produced
less precious metals, privateer
attacks increased, and other
European powers began to colonize
the Caribbean and break the Spanish
trading monopoly. At the end of the
16th century, the average number of
ships in the flota was 100; this was
to degrade to 55 by 1610 and to 25
by 1640. At home, Spain suffered
general economic and industrial
decline and began to lose its
shipbuilding industry, as attested
to by the fact that by 1650 more
than two thirds of the flota ships
were of foreign construction. The
Spanish navy was so weak by the end
of the 17th century that often
foreign warships (usually belonging
to the nation that Spain owed the
most money to) escorted the flota
home. The loss of the 1715 and 1733
treasure flotas were a tremendous
blow to Spain in the early 18th
century. Finally, the last flota to
make the transatlantic run sailed in
1778, and Spain officially declared
free trade among its colonies.
We will supply you with underwater
metal detectors. Happy hunting!
Spanish Wrecks
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El Capitana
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El Infante
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El Almiranta
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San Francisco ("Craig Wreck")
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Chaves
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Herrera
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El Lerri (San Felipe)
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San Pedro
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Sueco de Arizon
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Tres Puentes
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San Jose
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Angustias
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Nuestra Senora del Populo
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Atocha and her sister ship,
Santa Margarita.
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Spanish galleons of Key West the
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