LIVING HISTORY
24
TREASURE COAST BOATING
A Spanish treasure ship sinks from the power of the hurricane.
placed on the docks of Havana Harbor. By the time the ships
were ready to depart, an overabundance of silver and gold
weighed the ship down into the waters of the harbor.
Echeverz’s flagship, Nuestra Senora de la Carmen, was laden
with gold bars, doubloons, silver and 72 cannons. The Nuestra
Senora del Rosario, a massive 155-foot vessel, followed close
behind for protection and served as a fighting vessel with
more than 50 cannons. Nuestra Senora del Rosario also carried
an equal amount of chests of wealth. A third galleon, Senora
de la Concepcion, carried hundreds of chests of coinage as well.
Senor San Miguel, La Holandesa, and La Francesca brought up
the rear of the fleet, serving as passenger and supply ships. In
most likelihood, the three vessels carried contraband to avoid
taxation in Spain.
The Plate Fleet carried gold bullion and silver from
Veracruz, Mexico. Chinese porcelain and silk from Emperor
K’anghis of the Manchu Dynasty were added to the
manifests. A mule train carried the cargo over the deserts of
Mexico to the ships docked at Veracruz. Cochineal red and
indigo blue dyes were brought aboard near Acapulco. Capt.
Gen. Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla was the commander of the
Flota de la Plata, or Plate Fleet. He oversaw a combined fleet
of 11 ships.
Ubilla’s galleon, Nuestra Senora de la Regla, carried 1,300
chests of nearly three million silver coins and fifty cannons.
Gold coins, chests of uncut emeralds, pearls and Chinese
porcelain rounded out the cargo. Ubilla’s protective ship,
Santo Cristo de San Roman y Nuestra Senora del Rosario, carried
a thousand chests, each chest containing three thousand
coins. A supply ship, Santissima Trinidad y Nuestra Senora de la
Concepcion, also known as Urca de Lima, carried 81 chests of
silver coins and 50 chests of worked silver. A dispatch ship,
Nuestra Senora de la Nieves, carried 44,000 pieces of silver. The
trailing frigate, Mariagalonte, carried supplies and armaments.
By the summer of 1715, the patience of King Philip V of
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