For hundreds of years, a £16-billion hoard of gold, silver, and emeralds has remained submerged under the waters of the Caribbean.
However, researchers now think they have pinpointed the ”
holy grail of shipwrecks
”.
The valuable riches aboard the Spanish galleon San Jose seemed to be lost for eternity when they sank due to an attack by the Royal Navy in 1708.
A unit led by Charles Wager, later appointed as the First Lord of the Admiralty, ambushed the treasure fleet close to Baru Island, located offshore from Cartagena, Colombia. During the assault, they triggered the ship’s gunpowder stores, causing an explosion that plunged it into the ocean depths.
The loot was en route from Peru to Spain with the aim of financing the War of the Spanish Succession against Britain and its coalition partners.
Gold and silver coins along with pearls and gemstones, said to be valued at around £16 billion in today’s money, were onboard the San Jose.
The sinking of the ship undermined Spain’s efforts during the war, ultimately resulting in Britain acquiring Gibraltar, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia as part of the peace settlement.
Scholars in Colombia now assert they have verified that a shipwreck discovered along the nation’s coastline in 2015 is indeed the San Jose.
With the help of underwater drones, they captured images of freight dispersed across and beside the remnants of a vessel discovered on the ocean floor close to Baru Island back in 2015.
The analysis of the images revealed silver coins – dated from 1707 and bearing the marks of the Lima, Peru mint – amidst the debris.
Among the other discoveries were Chinese porcelain pieces dating back to the Kangxi era (1662-1722), along with inscriptions found on cannons from 1665.
These discoveries indicate that the debris likely belongs to a vessel that went down in the late 1600s to early 1700s.
“The collected evidence confirms the identification of the wreckage as the San José Galleon, a theory that was proposed following its first discovery in 2015,” concluded the scholars.
The discovery of ingots produced in 1707 at the Lima Mint suggests a vessel traveling along the Tierra Firme route during the early 1700s. The San José galleon is the sole ship that fits this description.
This discovery offers a unique chance to investigate an underwater archaeological site and enhance our knowledge of colonial maritime trade and pathways.
This analysis may well intensify the dispute regarding the rightful possession of the debris.
Assertions have been put forward by Colombia, Spain, Peru, local indigenous groups, heirs of the original miners, and Glocca Morra, the treasure-hunting company, claiming they discovered the wreckage as early as 1981.
The new proprietors of Glocca Morra, Sea Search Armada, assert that they located the galleon roughly one to two miles from where it was originally discovered in 1981.
The corporation, seeking £7.9 billion, is likewise contesting a legislation from 2020 that classified all assets on the vessel as properties of the Colombian government.
The researchers commented, “Coins serve as essential objects for dating purposes and comprehending material culture, especially within the context of shipwrecks.”
Hand-striking irregularly shaped coins — referred to as ‘cobs’ in English and ‘macuquinas’ in Spanish — acted as the main form of money in the Americas for over two hundred years.
The discoveries come after earlier carbon dating tests on the debris suggested it was roughly 300 years old.
The ship’s cargo won’t be retrieved from the ocean floor until the debris is thoroughly “characterized” through “non-invasive surveys.”
Given that the galleon rests at a depth of several hundred meters beneath the ocean’s surface, it lies beyond the reach of human divers.
The research appears in the journal Antiquity.
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