1715 Treasure Fleet
Spanish treasure fleet lost in a 1715 hurricane off Florida.
The 1715 Treasure Fleet was a combined Spanish treasure fleet that lost all eleven of its ships in a hurricane off the east coast of Florida on July 31, 1715. Carrying silver and other riches, the disaster led to widespread salvage efforts by both Spanish authorities and pirates, notably Henry Jennings. The fleet's wrecks have yielded ongoing discoveries of coins and artifacts into the 21st century.
Quick Facts
- Date of sinking
- July 31, 1715
- Location
- East coast of Florida
- Number of ships lost
- 11
- Number of sailors perished
- Around 1,500
- Notable pirate involved
- Henry Jennings
Facts from the source article.
Exhibits and preserves
Over the next several years, he kept searching and pulled up millions of dollars in gold, silver, and other relics. That exhibit kicked off a major collection of 1715 plate fleet treasure that drew crowds from all over the world. Those coins came from a wreck site called the Corrigans wreck. Under Florida law, any treasure trove or historic artifacts abandoned on state land or in state waters belong to the state. Still, 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels, LLC has permission to carry out salvage operations. Florida officials get to pick up to 20% of the items for the public, a process that gets finalized in federal court. Whatever is left gets split evenly between the salvage company's owners and its subcontractors.
List of identified ships
Identified ships include Urca de Lima (Santissima Trinidad), former HMS Hampton Court (Nuestra Señora del Carmen y San Antonio), Santo Cristo de San Roman, Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, Nuestra Señora del Rosario y San Francisco Xavier, Nuestra Señora del Carmen y San Antonio, Nuestra Señora de Regla, and Nuestra Señora de la Popa (La Holandesa).
In popular culture
The 1715 Treasure Fleet has appeared in several works of fiction. The video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag features the fleet in a key scene. The protagonist, Edward Kenway, starts as a prisoner on one of the ships. With help from his future quartermaster, Adéwalé, he escapes, recruiting other captive pirates. They steal the twelfth ship, a brig called the El Dorado, during a hurricane. Edward renames it the Jackdaw, which becomes the player's ship for the rest of the game. Later, when Blackbeard asks how Edward got the Jackdaw, Edward mentions the event, and Blackbeard suggests visiting the wreck site to salvage lost treasure. Romer Treece, a lighthouse keeper and treasure hunter, thinks the medallion came from the wreck of the fleet's surviving twelfth ship. This ship was believed to be a French tobacco vessel protected by the 1715 Fleet, named the Grifon (spelled "El Grifón" in Peter Benchley's novel The Deep). It was supposedly heading back to Havana, Cuba for repairs but sank off Bermuda instead. The first season of the Starz series Black Sails centers on the 1715 Treasure Fleet. The largest ship, the Urca de Lima, is wrecked in a hurricane off Florida, carrying five million Spanish dollars in gold, silver, and other valuables. Captain Flint and his crew pursue it, and the treasure, often called "the Urca gold," drives much of the series' plot.
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