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Photo: John Potter, author of 'The Treasure divers Guide' and his son John with GoldHound Crew
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MILLIONS IN SILVER AND GOLD |
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GOLD HOUND TREASURE DIVERS
ON THE TRAIL OF THE 1715 SPANISH FLEET
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It was the early 1700s, and the coffers of King Philip the Fifth of Spain had been severely depleted after years of war with England and the Dutch. In addition, the King had married the Duchess of Parma, Italy, but she refused to consummate the marriage until an enormous dowry of gold and jewels were bestowed upon her. Desperately in need of riches, the King dispatched a fleet of ships to the Americas to retrieve precious cargo that had been building up on his behalf in Columbia and Mexico, countries with ports of call along key trade routes. The fleet was made up of the Esqadron de Terra Firm, which collected goods from South American trade routes out of Cartegena, and the Flota de Nova Espana, which served trade routes along the coast of Mexico and from Manila in the Philippines.
Soon, eleven galleons were laden with precious cargo that included gold and silver, emerald and rubies, tobacco, spices and indigo, and pearls and exotic porcelains from Asia. The two main ships alone were carrying 14 million coins
The treasure fleets joined up in Havana, setting sail early on the morning of July 24, 1715 into a smooth sea, heading toward the Straits of Florida guided by a light breeze. But unknown to the Spaniards, a violent hurricane was brewing. Six days later, just south of Cape Canaveral, winds had picked up to over 30 knots and the swells were rising ferociously with heights of 20 feet. Despite attempts to stay out at sea to stay clear of the reefs, the ships were driven southward and closer and closer to the dangerous reefs. On the seventh day, the brutal hurricane slammed the ships with all its might, driving them on to the jagged reefs, the ships broken up like matchsticks. The entire fleet was lost to the sea and over 1,000 of the 2,500 aboard perished.
News of the disaster spread quickly and within weeks, salvage ships, pirates and more began descending on the areas around Sebastian and Fort Pierce, Florida. Gold, coins and jewelry were quickly discovered in some cases, but by 1718, salvage efforts had been abandoned, the rest of the treasures laying unclaimed in the sea, forgotten for over 200 years.
Modern salvage efforts began in the 1950s with Kip Wagner and Mel Fisher. Mel Fisher later acquired salvage rights to the site, with the State of Florida owning the rights to 20 percent of all artifacts that Gold Hound Treasure Divers finds from the wrecks, after which Gold Hound Treasure Divers and Mel Fisher Center Inc. split the remaining treasures 50/50. Of the treasures still to be found from the shipwrecks, it is estimated that there are over 300 chests containing nearly one million silver coins worth $450 million yet to be found in addition to gold, jewels and much more.
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