jjcollins
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 26, 1999
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VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A research crew that found a sunken cannon this summer now says it could belong to a 1715 wreck of a Spanish treasure ship.
Company divers recently found granite rocks that ships used to stabilize hulls, which could mean the crew found the lower portion of a ship.
Rob Westrick, an archaeologist with Historical Research and Development Inc. of Fort Pierce, said the discovery north of Vero Beach could be the first such find in four decades.
"Right now it's a mystery wreck," said Westrick. "The cannon was the first piece of the puzzle."
Eleven armed Spanish galleons left Havana in July 1715, full of New World wealth and bound for Spain. The ships carried silver, gold from Spain's Central and South American colonies and fine Chinese porcelain from Spain's Philippine colony.
Struck by a hurricane a few days out of port, the flotilla was strewn along the shore in current-day St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
Westrick says research indicates two damaged vessels tried to make it back to port but were lost at sea.
Seven wreck sites of the 1715 Spanish Silver Plate Fleet have been identified, two near Vero Beach.
The two missing ships are the Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion and El Senor San Miguel. The company and others plan to excavate the new wreck site.
I wonder can you see it from the Green Cabin Room
jj......
Company divers recently found granite rocks that ships used to stabilize hulls, which could mean the crew found the lower portion of a ship.
Rob Westrick, an archaeologist with Historical Research and Development Inc. of Fort Pierce, said the discovery north of Vero Beach could be the first such find in four decades.
"Right now it's a mystery wreck," said Westrick. "The cannon was the first piece of the puzzle."
Eleven armed Spanish galleons left Havana in July 1715, full of New World wealth and bound for Spain. The ships carried silver, gold from Spain's Central and South American colonies and fine Chinese porcelain from Spain's Philippine colony.
Struck by a hurricane a few days out of port, the flotilla was strewn along the shore in current-day St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
Westrick says research indicates two damaged vessels tried to make it back to port but were lost at sea.
Seven wreck sites of the 1715 Spanish Silver Plate Fleet have been identified, two near Vero Beach.
The two missing ships are the Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion and El Senor San Miguel. The company and others plan to excavate the new wreck site.
I wonder can you see it from the Green Cabin Room
jj......
