17th Century Spanish Shipwreck

lilolme

This is the long version of the news reports with some history to it.

One paragraph:

Previously, many scholars believed the Maravillas had been salvaged into oblivion. The Spanish Empire had no intention of leaving a royal ransom sitting on the ocean floor. Between 1656 and 1679, Spain sent ten expeditions to salvage the wreck site. English, French, Dutch and Bahamian ships tried their luck with the wreck in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Modern treasure hunters hit the site hard between the 1970s and early 1990s. Over three centuries, around 3.5 million pieces of eight and an undisclosed but significant number of silver bars were salvaged.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-the-race-to-preserve-treasures-from-a-legendary-17th-century-shipwreck-in-the-bahamas-180980492/

ElKevvo

Good stuff, thanks for the link! Shipwrecks have always fascinated me.

K

Namvet69

Excellent link for this wreck. Thanks. Peace Roy