On this day, the heavily armed Spanish galleon, Nuestra Señora de Atocha, sank after being hit by a hurricane the previous day off the Florida Keys. The Atocha was acting as rearguard for a fleet of 28 ships that left Havana on 4th September laden with a vast amount of treasure bound for the royal Spanish treasury and destined to help fund the ongoing Thirty Years War. The Atocha was carrying a cargo with a value of $250 to $500 million, including silver from Bolivia, Peru and Mexico, gold and emeralds from Colombia, and pearls from Venezuela, as well as more common goods including worked silverware, tobacco, and bronze cannons. There were only five survivors of the 265 crew and passengers on board. Immediate attempts to recover the treasure all failed and it was not until 20th July 1985 that the treasure hunter Mel Fisher and his son Kane finally located and managed to retrieve a large part of the sunken treasure.
Read Bob Lynn’s short story “Treasure of the Keys”
about the sinking of the Atocha HERE
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