I know, I know. This is ancient news by now. But I just haven’t had the time to work on the 1715 Treasure Plate Fleet shipwrecks that occurred just off the coast of Florida. I still wanted to learn more, so this is what I discovered.
First, a bit of background.
There’d been years of fighting between Spain and England as they both wanted to expand their nations. Many battles were fought on the seas, and not just close to Europe, but all over, because by the 1700s, nations were traveling to exotic ports to pick up gold, silver, spices, fine Chinese porcelain and anything else they felt their countries could use or profit from.
The year is 1715. The Spanish King, Phillip was in the middle of his first reign (November, 1700 to January, 1724).
He also racked up additional ruling years from September, 1724 until his death in 1746. His total reign of 44 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish monarchy surpassing Philip II. Why the break? Philip abdicated from the Spanish throne in January 1724 in favor of his oldest son, Luis, but was persuaded to become king again after Luis died of smallpox in August 1724.
December 19,1683 – July 9, 1746
At the age of 18 (1701), he married a French princess and heir apparent to the throne of France, Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy. The marriage took place five days before her 13th birthday.
September 13, 1688 – February 14, 1714
Maria died in 1714 at age 25, and Phillip married again in the same year to another princess, this one from Parma, Italy. Elisabeth Farnese. She was 22, he was 31.
October 25, 1692 – July 11, 1766
In a way, Elizabeth was responsible for the events I’m about to regale you with. When she chose Phillip out of her many suitors, she stipulated that the marriage would not be consummated until she was bedecked with the jewels of her choosing. But King Philip was very short on funds because of the years of wars with England, and the wealth his subjects had been collecting was sitting in a harbor – at least four months away (counting the trip to tell them to release the cargo, plus the time to get to Spain).
He sent word and ordered the Spanish galleons sitting in Havana, Cuba already two years delayed, to bring back treasure to continue funding the war Phillip was embroiled in and also to bring his new bride her jewels. In part, the delay was due to waiting for mule trains from Acapulco, but added to this, was Philip’s ‘wish list’ for his new bride, much of which had to be created. Some of that cargo is known, but not all – a heart built up of 130 matched pearls, an emerald ring weighing in at 74 carats, a pair of earrings each containing a 14 carat pearl (normal size today is 7-8 carats), and a rosary of pure corals with beads the size of marbles. There were a total of eight chests containing treasures like these, all locked up in the admiral’s cabin.
Merchants were also anxious for the fleet to get underway, because the two-year wait, meant they couldn’t sell the things they put on the ships for sale in Europe. In addition, the sailors were tired of waiting around, so everyone was very excited when the ships left the port in Havana in search of the Gulf Stream which would carry them to Spain.
Finally, in the early morning hours of July 24, 1715, the eleven ships laden with precious cargo, were ready to hoist anchor and begin the long and arduous journey of 2-3 months back to their mother country. It was recorded as a beautiful day with a gentle breeze.
Their cargo manifest of over 2,400 chests plus additional cargo contained the following, but much was not officially logged as far as numbers:
- Over 3,000,000 silver coins (‘pieces of eight’ aka plates, which is where ‘Plate Fleet’ comes from)
As a side note: Where did the term ‘pieces of eight’ come from? The Spanish dollar coin was worth eight reales and could be physically cut into eight pieces, or “bits,” to make change — hence the colloquial name “pieces of eight.” The dollar coin could also be cut into quarters, and “two bits” became American slang for a quarter dollar, or 25 cents. Each of these silver pieces where the equivalent of $20 in today’s times, so they were carrying the equivalent of $60M in today’s currency. And that’s just the silver!
- Gold bars
- Gold coins
- Gold bits
- Gold works, including jewelry chains
- Silver bars
- Worked silver (means it had been created into something)
- Jewels and jewelry
- Pearls
- Emeralds
- Jade works
- Fine Chinese porcelain
- Over 200 sheets of copper
- And of course, let’s not forget the eight chests belonging to the new queen
- There were also 2,500 passengers (and crew) with their own personal items of wealth
But on July 29th , just five days into their long voyage, long swells started to appear, coming from the southeast. The atmosphere became heavy with moisture with the sun shining brightly through the haze. A gentle breeze still blew and the sea was smooth, but the swells started to make the ship gently dip and roll. Experienced navigators, pilots, and old hands started to be concerned. They knew that these were the early signs of an impending tropical storm.
The storm was traveling north, almost due east of the convoy, but still many miles away. The storm had reached alarming intensity with winds at the center of the storm now reaching one hundred miles per hour. By nightfall the hurricane had made a drastic change in course, suddenly veering directly to the west. (I don’t know how they’ve determined these statistics from way back then. It’s a real head-scratcher!)
On the morning of July 30th, along the east coast of Florida, just south of Cape Canaveral, winds had begun to pick up and by midday had increased to well over twenty knots and the sea was rapidly building up. By late afternoon winds had increased to over thirty knots and the waves were reaching twenty feet. Ubilla’s fleet (Ubilla was the general in charge) was relentlessly driven closer and closer to shore.
The General gave the order that all ships head into the wind in order to stay well clear of the reef and shoals, but the attempt was marginally successful. The velocity of the wind kept increasing, and by midnight, the ships were barely under control.
Around 4 a.m. on July 31st, the hurricane struck the doomed ships with all its might, driving one ship after another on the deadly jagged reefs with winds over 100mph and waves topping forty-fifty feet! The ships broke apart like wooden toys. Ubilla’s ship disintegrated and was crushed on the reef like matchsticks. Almost all aboard were killed, including Ubilla.
The entire fleet was lost, and of the some 2,500 persons aboard various ships, well over one thousand perished when the ships threw them mercilessly into the sea. In my humble opinion, these were the lucky ones.
For those who had miraculously survived, the ordeal was just beginning. They were stranded in an inhospitable land, infested with disease-carrying mosquitoes, rattle snakes, wild animals, and hostile Indians, far from any settlement, without food, fresh water, or badly needed medical supplies.
When daylight came on that dreadful morning of July 31st, 1715, the full extent of the disaster could then be seen. The beaches of Florida were littered with wreckage and bodies. And more continued to die as they succumbed to wounds, infections, disease, and the irrepressible Florida sun.
I know most people are interested in the treasure, and the continued hope of discovering more, but I’m much more interested in what happened to the survivors and how they coped with their disaster. Unfortunately, there is very little information out there.
I’ve heard the basics, as I’ve shared above, but the only additional information I’ve gleaned is that the mosquitos were so bad, they buried the women and children in sand up to their necks and covered their faces with cloth so they could sleep at night. Can you imagine?? My thought was, okay, that takes care of the mosquitos, but what about the ants and noseeums (teeny gnat-like creatures that, as their name implies, you cannot see, but have a painful bite all the same and leave welts. Or what about the sand fleas? Or what about the snakes? Or the other critters that called this place home? Or the hostile Indians who were probably none-to-overjoyed to see these people littering their beach?
I have no idea what kind of supplies they were able to salvage to build shelters. Where did they find drinkable water? Or medical supplies? Or food? Or what did they have to build and light fires with? Or provide light? And where, oh where were the bathrooms? I’m sorry, but the reality show “Survivor”’s got nothing on these people and their circumstances!
Still, they managed to set up a salvage camp where the McLarty Visitor Center now sits. That’s where we were when we learned of this horrific and fascinating time in history.
Because the ships had wrecked at different locations, and were separated by sometimes several miles, it was impossible for the survivors to fully assess the extent of the disaster. One of the surviving admirals immediately began attempting to survey the extent of the damage. After deducing that all ships had been wrecked, he decided, on August 6th, to send 18 men in a launch toward Cuba, to give the alert, and to send a personal message to their governor. It took eleven days for the small boat to reach Havana and sound the alert.
Within a few days several ships were leaving Havana harbor, loaded with emergency supplies, salvage equipment, government officials and soldiers, on their way to the east coast of Florida. Salvage was to begin as soon as the relief expedition reached the survivors camps.
Success came early as salvage sloops dragged the ocean floor for wreckage and quickly brought up chests of coins, as well as jewelry and gold. The Havana salvage flotilla was soon joined by Florida ships sent from St. Augustine to help in the recovery effort. By early September such was the success of the salvage team that Admiral Salmon wrote the governor asking him to send 25 soldiers and ammunition to guard the King’s treasure as well as private properties that had been salvaged from the various shipwrecks.
By the time the weather and sea conditions had become unsuitable for continuing salvage, in late October of the same year, over 5,000,000 pieces of eight had been recovered along with gold and jewelry, and a great part of the King’s treasure.
And then, on December 28th, pirates began arriving and absconding with whatever their ships could carry from the camp. Fortunately, most of the recovered treasure had already been sent to a secure location. In addition, there were war ships around to help protect the site.
Although salvage efforts were essentially complete, they continued well into 1718 just several yards off the coast, at which time, the site was abandoned for over 200 years.
Then in the mid-1900s, a man who’s name I don’t remember and can’t find, discovered what he believed were shells and was flinging them out into the ocean, before finally realizing that they were silver coins. He began extensive research and discovered the general position of the lost ships. He bought a surfboard, cut a hole in it and filled it with glass so he could see the bottom. The ships and treasure were resting in water only about 20’ deep, so he got a couple men together and they began salvaging as best they could. I don’t know how much they recovered.
In the 1970’s, famous ship diver Mel Fisher discovered the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. Aboard this ship was “The Atocha Motherlode” which included 40 tons of gold and silver, plus 114,000 Spanish silver coins. In total, the cache was worth $450 million.
He eventually sold the rights to the shipwreck to another treasure hunting company, Queens Jewels, LLC, which proved to be quite fruitful for founder Brent Brisben who went on to discover an additional $4.5 million in gold coins from the wreck in 2015.
If you’d like to read a wonderful and flowery account of the wreck (much better than what I’ve shared), please visit:
https://indianrivermagazine.com/300-years-ago/
Hours of research, and I could’ve just given you the above website to check out, but where’s the fun in that?