The Hurricane and the 1715 Treasure Fleet

foreign hurricanes are powerful things in fact the word hurricane is derived from a central American indigenous people's name for the god of evil writing in a 2013 edition of the general chemical education Professor Earl Pearson of Middle Tennessee State University use some fancy math to determine that 2008's Hurricane Ike released some 2.6 million times as much energy as the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima the numbers are hard to figure but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that between one-third and one-half million people died in Atlantic hurricanes between 1492 and 1994 and more than a thousand of those died the night of July 31st 17 15. in a disaster that's more remembered for the treasure than for those people but those people deserve to be remembered Spanish treasure fleets sailed from the mid 16th century until nearly the end of the 18th century carrying the wealth of Spain's New World possessions to the mother country the system was developed after French Corsair sack Havana in 1555 and was designed to protect the goods that the Spanish Empire had acquired in its new world colonies from attacks by Pirates privateers and foreign navies the system is generally considered to be the first permanent transatlantic trade route in history in the iconic Spanish Galleon was designed to protect these fleets the amount of treasure that the Spanish Empire plundered from the new world is staggerate writer Robert Forrest Burgess wrote in his 1975 work Florida's golden galleons Spain's economy was almost totally dependent on these treasure shipments from the new world since she manufactured nothing that was needed by other countries the wealth she received from her new world colonies merely passed through her economy into the economies of other European nations that sold their goods to Spain to fulfill her needs thus this treasure affected the entire European economy Burgess continues nearly 95 percent of the precious metals backing European monetary systems came from the Spanish treasure fleets the education site Shmoop notes that so much gold and silver was imported by the Spanish that between the years 1500 and 1660 prices in Europe Rose 500 percent the system called the flota de indius or West Indian treasure Fleet actually usually consisted of two fleets that would be sent from Spain each year the float de indius would collect the treasure derived from the vice royalty of nuva Espana or Mexico and the Tierra Firma Armada meaning roughly armed Earth and called the galliano's would collect treasure gathered from Peru each Fleet would usually be accompanied by two warships the largest Flagship was called the capitana and would be committed by a general supported by the second usually smaller warship the almaranta commanded by an admiral the fleet would also include smaller Patrol vessels a support ship and accompanying Merchant vessels the two fleets would leave the ports of Cadiz or Seville carrying European trade goods for which there were demands in New Spain Burgess writes the goods going to the new world were Consignments of wine Brandy olive oil cloth ironwork books two-year supply of officially letter-headed legal paper and the Royal Monopoly of 399.500 weight of mercury to be used in the amalgam process for refining gold The Fleets would go south of the Spanish Canary Islands to resupply and then using the trade winds in a North equatorial current Head West to the West Indies the floater would then head to the port of Vera Cruz in the galleons would head south to Cartagena the floto would not only collect treasure from New Spain but also treasure from the Orient collected in the Spanish East Indies and carried across the Pacific by the Manila Galleon the world's first regular trans-pacific trade route to New Spain the goods would then be carried by Mule Train from the west coast to the east the galleons would collect the vast amounts of silver accumulated in the potusi mines in Colombia as well as silver from Peru and Pearls collected around the island of Margarita the floto wood winter Inver Cruise while the galleons would usually winter in Cartagena in Spring they would meet in Havana to escort the treasure back to Spain the four warships two capitans and two alarantis carried as many as 200 guns enough to protect the fleet from Pirates and foreign enemies the combined fleets would leave in Spring and sail North skirting the coast of Florida until they could catch the Gulf Stream north and east of Bermuda and go back East to Spain the system was effective but certainly not universally so Burgess writes but frequently The Fleets failed to reach their destination the ultimate success or failure of these long voyages depended on the weather hurricanes were the worst villains throughout the Indies they destroyed more ships claimed more lives and responsible for the loss of more treasure than all of the Pirates or privateers that sailed the seven seas between 1525 and 1825 dozens of Spanish traditionships were lost in the Florida waters alone such was the importance of Spanish gold to the continent that Burgess notes when one of these fleets was lost the whole European economic structure felt the effect for 150 years the system brought the treasure that funded the crown and the Holy Roman Empire funding Wars across the continent but over time the value of the treasure collected and the power of the Empire declined writing in a 1976 edition of the journal the Americas Lowell Newton of the University of Louisville writes that once the greatest Maritime power in Western Europe the Spanish Navy by the end of the 17th century was a pallid relic of its former self while the once immense convoy system that had linked the Metropolis with the American colonies was badly decayed the 1715 treasure fleet was uniquely important the war of Spanish secession considered by some historians to be the first real world war between 1701 and 1714 had interrupted the treasure fleets while at the same time draining Spanish coffers the maritime history website Maritime Cyprus wrote in 2012 with the end of the war spent a succession in 1714 the Spanish Crown was in desperate need of fonts no major shipment of goods from Spain's New World colonies had been undertaken during the war so a fleet of galleons was organized to visit various ports of call around the Spanish main to gather both Royal and private treasure to be shipped to Cadiz since the majority of the goods consisted of silver coins in bullion The Venture was dubbed the Spanish Plata meaning silver Fleet Galleon was by this time merely a term of tradition the top heavy Spanish Galleon once the height of Naval technology was well outdated in fact the capitena of the flota the nuesta Senora Del Carmen e San Antonio or Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Anthony had originally been built in England as the 70 gun Third Rate chip of the line HMS Hampton Court the ship had been captured by the French in 1707 and sold to the Spanish in 1712. the 1715 treasure Fleet it actually started all the way back in 1712 the time peace negotiations were underway and the season Commander General Juan Esteban du abiya was placed in charge of the indius with plans to leave for the new world in April but the enemy threat didn't go away so the fleet did not sail until an Armistice was agreed upon between Spain Great Britain and France in September ABIA reached Veracruz in December there Burgess explains a series of unfortunate events that Veracruz prevented The Fleets leaving for two years and five months the events included damage from weather but also difficulty selling the goods brought from Spain and getting all the treasure to the correct place after so many years another delay came because the king of Spain philipped the Fifth's wife had died and he decided to remarry his 22 year old prospective bride Elizabeth Parma had demanded that she had provided rare Jewels for her wedding and the King had sent orders to collect the most unique items from the new world which took time to collect the numismatist magazine coin week explained in 2022 more than 1200 pieces of air jewelry from the Americas were being sent to Spain as Dowry pieces for Elizabeth her Quest included a heart made of 130 pearls 14 karat pearl earrings a pure Coral Rosary with large sized beads and an emerald ring weighing 74 carats meanwhile the galleons under the command of General Juan Antonio de chevers had left in July 1713 a year after the flota they arrived in Cartagena new gunare at the end of August and they went to the Panamanian Port of Portobello in November to collect the treasure from the vice royalty of Peru The Galleon is wintered in Portobello returned to Cartagena in the spring and then arrived loaded with treasure in Havana in October the Cuban Port was large and well defended considered the best place to Winter the fleet which would join with ubiya in the spring to return to Spain but it'll be a face more delays the fleet was still loading in March when Veracruz was hit by a strong storm damaging several ships and requiring time for more repairs then the fleet struggled with headwinds and the flagship unexpectedly lost a mast making the trip to Havana slow not arriving until June Newton writes it was impossible for ubiya or the Viceroy to anticipate the dismasking of the flagship headwinds that sold the voyage to Havana and the subsequent delay in that Port while repairs were made to be as ships the combined Fleet would not be sailing until mid-summer that was a risk the more they delayed the more risks that the fleet would run into a hurricane ubia wrote the Viceroy that the fleet planned to leave on July 23rd but for reasons that are not clear the fleet didn't leave until a day later on July 24th the combined Fleet included 12 vessels five ships of the floata out of the command of general ubia and six vessels of the gallina's fleet under the command of echeveres the last vessel was a coincidence the French warship look Griffin under the command of Captain Antonia Dari had acquired a license to trade but when the Viceroy had originally set the date of departure in March by law the ports were closed to form vessels to leave this was to prevent a foreign ship from reporting the fleet's departure date Dari had a little Choice he could go with the fleet or leave after them he chose to accompany the fleet the fleet was loaded with an enormous amount of treasure an estimated 14 million pesos worth but also with people some 2500 crowded the ships Burgess gives an example of the crowding on General attivares capitana the largest ship in the fleet the gun deck was 160 feet long and less than 40 feet wide more than 450 persons were relegated to this cramped dark damp space the fleet did not take the shortest route to Florida instead sticking to the coast safest in a time when navigation was still uncertain Burgess writes if either Commander had any foreboding of Doom in those final days of July as the fleet pushed on through the treacherous Florida Straits under threatening Skies he undoubtedly kept his fears to himself but the Prelude was over it was the beginning of the end the maritime Salvage site Mel Fishers Treasures rights by noon on July 29th the fleet was almost be called the sea was running heavy and strangely silent swell but there was no wind the clouds were the merest whisper Cirus way down on the starboard beam and even the seabirds which usually swarmed around the ships a mere 20 miles from the shore had vanished by then it was already clear that a storm was coming but there was little that a beer could do the U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration's hurricane research division rights ubia found himself trapped between the uninhabited restroom Florida Shore to the west and the shallow English pirate student Bahama Bank to his East and had no choice but to try to clear the channel before the worst of the storm Struck it was a race he lost and the hurricane overtook the fleet just as emerged from the channel the fleet started feeling the storm on the 28th Bridges writes gradually the wind picked up out of the Northeast the ships leaned into the steepening waves but their Northern word movement was slow and awkward the following day the fleet was pounded by Gales purchase continues with the storm's first powerful blast the ship staggered and healed over sharply sheets of spray blanketed the bows spurted from around the closed gun ports Haws holes and scuppers to race wildly across the decks the ships no longer obeyed their Helms but were forced around in the Wind and finally he writes at 2 A.M Wednesday July 31st the hurricane struck with all its Fury roaring out of the East with winds in excess of 75 miles per hour nothing withstood its Wrath Fisher writes by Nightfall The Wind not the captains was in full command it was gusting now to over 100 knots ABIA lost his Mison mass and the fleet was wildly scattered and the noise was deafening but above the screaming winds was another more awesome and frightening sound the breakers on the reefs which lined the Florida coast on all the Spanish ships men prayed as they wrestled to try to cut lifeboats free from the debris littering the decks all were now resigned to shipwreck and the priest piping Hail Marys made little or no impression on either their flocks or the elements obia's Flagship was among the first to be destroyed Fisher continues dismanted her Rudder carried away she could make not even the Vestige of a fight she struck at 2 30 on the morning of July 31st The Reef ripped the bottom right out of her then her superstructure parted from her Hull on the poop and after deck were cast up on a 50-foot wave she was tossed around for a few seconds just long enough for ubia and 223 of his crew to be washed off and pounded to death on the rocks Burgess said of the ship the 471 ton vessel struck bottom with such force that her entire lower hole was sheared away ballast cargo Cannon passengers and 120 tons of registered silver coins and boxes plummeted to the bottom of the rampaging sea with the ship went the jewels for the Queen's Dowry stored in nubia's own cabin she would never see them one by one the ships were dashed upon the Rocks a Survivor reported the Seas became very Giant in size the wind continued blowing us towards Shore pushing us into shallow water it soon happened that we were unable to use any sail at all and we were at the mercy of the wind and water always driven closer to shore having then lost all our Mass all the ships were wrecked on the shore Fisher writes the stewardships were all caught on the Rocks whichevers War gallium broke up drowning him in 124 of his crew his son who commanded his stewardship met a similar fate the lighter ships capsized and sink in the surf Burgess concludes in a few short hours the hurricane took a terrible toll on the Spanish treasure Fleet of 1715. the wrecks spread across some 40 miles of Beach Newton notes the nature of the tragedy the hurricane of Late July was unusually early in fact it underscores the irony of the photo's destruction if the fleet had left Havana on the 23rd of July as ubia had said it would instead of the following day or for that matter if it had sailed from Veracruz a few days earlier the disaster probably would have been avoided Phil he writes the reaction of the survivors might surprise people today writing to Viceroy Ellen Caster from Havana on October 15th One Survivor attributed the loss to being God's punishment for our sins an unidentified official wrote the bishop of Havana that in his opinion these things are alone contingent upon the will of God another Survivor Admiral Francisco salmon informed alicaster that these accidents rest upon the will of God it seems odd that they didn't blame ubiya or the leadership whose actions had delayed The Voyage Newton writes these marenders knew they had no control over the weather and what they could not control or foresee belonged quite naturally to God's Providence of the 12 ships of the fleet 11 were lost but Dari had outpaced the heavily Laden treasure ships he never even saw the storm only Lou Griffin made it back home estimates are that between a thousand and 1500 people were killed in the disaster putting it roughly on par with the sinking of the Titanic some two centuries later some survivors suggest that many of those people might have initially made it to Shoreland to be washed back out by the powerful surf for the survivors they were left exposed to the elements with few supplies they were forced to use a salvaged Lifeboat to seek help from the nearest Spanish settlement Saint Augustine some 120 miles away for the next 10 years the Spanish braved the heat the mosquitoes attacked by pirates in the constant threat of more storms in order to recover what they could of the Lost Treasure eventually claiming that they'd recovered 80 percent of what was lost although that might have been overstated in order to deter more treasure Hunters but then the location of the site was forgotten lost until archaeological discoveries in the 1950s and in 1959 the discovery of an 18th century map that showed treasure Hunters to what has been called Florida's Treasure Coast since then millions of dollars of treasure from the 1715 treasure fleet has been recovered hurricanes are of course still deadly today but the loss of life at sea has been greatly reduced as systems of tracking storms have improved but in 1715 there was no systematic collection of information about hurricanes you know banding together in a fleet might protect you from Pirates but it can't protect you from the weather Newton concludes that the risk inherent in it seem to be accepted by policy makers passengers and semen alike the loss of the millions of man hours required to build the ship the millions of man-hours invested in the mining smelting minting and transportation of the silver and treasure carried by the fleet and the loss of more than a thousand lives that is merely he says part of the enormous cost of Empire I hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guide check out our community on the historyguiguild.locals.com our webpage at thehistoryguy.com and our merchandise at teespring.com or book a special message from the history guy on Cameo and if you'd like more episodes of Forgotten history all you have to do is subscribe [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 102,410

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, florida, hurricane

Id: fqG7qiBNQ2g

Length: 18min 15sec (1095 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 30 2022