Mystery Ship of the 1715 Treasure Fleet

Mystery Ship of the 1715 Treasure Fleet

By Bob "Frogfoot" Weller

As salvors we have been salvaging the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet since Kip Wagner days in 1960. After 39 years one would believe all the mysteries of the fleet had been resolved. Of the six 1715 sites that we have located, over the years we have methodically salvaged several, and certainly done our homework in the research department. And, over the years, we have managed to put names to these historic ballast piles that lie scattered along the east coast of Florida. Yet, with all the efforts of some of the best historians and Old Spanish legajos translators, we have reached an impasse on nailing down the exact locations and names of four of the six sites.

The impasse begins with the "mystery" ship, the "Urca de Lima". To better understand the problem it might help to summarize that dramatic night of July 30, 1715 when the Spanish treasure fleet was driven on to the Florida reefs. It was sunrise the morning of July 24, 1715 when the treasure convoy of 12 ships set sail from Havana Harbor to begin the long voyage back to Spain. It had been a lucrative voyage for General Ubilla on board the fleet Capitana "Regala". His hold was full of treasure, as was his Almiranta "San Roman", sailing in the rear of his small fleet of 5 vessels. The other vessels in his fleet were the patache "Nieves", the "Urca de Lima", and a small balandrita "Maria Galante" that Ubilla had purchased in Havana to carry back a cargo of tobacco and sugar. General Echeverz headed up the second feet with 6 vessels. The 12th vessel in this convoy was the French vessel "Grifon" under command of captain Dare. The Grifon was allowed to travel with the fleet, rather than leaving Havana earlier and risk capture and leaking information to possible enemy warships that the treasure fleet was about to leave.

When the hurricane struck the fleet the evening of July 30th, the Grifon had taken a tack slightly to the northeast and was able to miss the hurricane altogether. That ship arrived in Brest, France unaware that the eleven ships of the convoy had all been sunk. The eleven ships of Spain sank along the east coast of Florida, scattered from Cape Canaveral southward some 50 miles. Of the eleven ships, only one managed to survive intact...you guessed it our "mystery" ship the Urca de Lima. the Urca managed to anchor close to shore in 16 feet of water, slipping between the outer reefs, a miracle by itself.

In the process of trying to save the ship from capsizing in the mountainous waves, captain Lima ordered the masts cut down. The crew had trouble cutting away the rigging of the main mast, and as a result it clung to the side of the hull as the ship struggled to stay afloat. It was a relief to find the ship still afloat after the hurricane passed, and the crew made every effort to free itself of the main mast as it thumped against the hull. Lima was congratulating himself on how "stout his ship was to have survived such a disastrous hurricane", when the following evening another strong storm passed through the area. The rigging, pulling on the stump of the mainmast, opened the hull...and the Urca promptly sank on the spot.

The topside structure of the Urca remained above water and most of the provisions on board were saved. In fact, Lima on 19 October 1715 wrote a letter to the Viceroy of Mexico in which he stated, "At the time of the disaster I was able to recover not only enough victuals for the men of my ship, but also to sustain all the people who escaped from the patache which wrecked two leagues from my ship". The registered treasure on board, 252,171 silver pesos, was also recovered by the crew. There was a bit of sin registrada aboard, mostly buried in the ballast, and this was recovered during the Kip Wagner salvage efforts. Survivors accounts placed the Urca "at the mouth of a river" and the huge ballast pile that Wagner worked in 1960 lay opposite the old Ft. Pierce inlet. The patache "Nieves" has been generally considered by everyone as the "Colored Beach Wrecksite" that lies 2 1/2 miles south of the present Ft. Pierce inlet, or about 3 1/2 miles from the ballast pile Wagner worked. ( The Spanish always overestimated distances ) the Nieves site is certainly one of the 1715 vessels. More gold and silver coins dated1690 to 1715 have been recovered from this site than all other 1715 sites combined.

The controversy among modern day salvors is seeded in an old chart drawn by Bernard Romans in 1774. The chart is of the east coast of Florida, with a notation near the inlet at Sebastian " Opposite this river perished the Admiral commanding the Plate fleet 1715...the rest of the fleet 14 in number between this and ye bleech yard". the "bleech yard" is located at Jenson Beach, on the side of a hill, and is a sand patch where sailors would lay out their sails to bleach in the sun. It is a very prominent landmark that can bee seen from the ocean. This is 30 miles south of the Ft. Pierce inlet. Some salvors claim to have a copy of an old chart with the 1715 sites located on it, but the author has never seen the chart and cannot determine how far to the south the sites indicated on the "chart" are located. So, in some circles of the salvage community it is considered a very real possibility that the Urca actually sank opposite the St. Lucie inlet, and not the Ft. Pierce inlet. To add fuel to the controversy, Lima stated that "My ship is at Palmar de Ayz in 27 degrees, 15 minutes latitude." This would put the Urca very close to the St. Lucie inlet.

It is my personal opinion that Bernard Romans reported hearsay about the whereabouts of the 1715 fleet shipwrecks. It was nearly 60 years after the hurricane drove the ships ashore and scattered debris over miles of shallow reefs. There was absolutely no evidence of shipwrecks when Romans visited the area. When Lima took an astrolabe bearing on the noon time position of the sun one or two days after the hurricane to determine his position, I am sure that the weather was terrible, and trying to take a sun line at exactly noon with clouds scudding overhead was more than difficult. The pilot probably gave Lima his best "estimate" of their position, which is all Lima needed to send for help from Havana. And if the Urca was at the St. Lucie inlet, then that would put the Nieves somewhere just south of the St. Lucie inlet. If that were the case then "What two ships are located near the Ft. Pierce inlet?" They are certainly 1715 shipwrecks, and if that is the case then there are too many 1715 sites accounted for.

It is a curious conflict of accounts, one that will keep the fire burning for salvors that are willing to search south towards the St. Lucie inlet for undiscovered 1715 sites. But, treasure is where you find it...and we'll never find it all. Frogfoot.