The Atocha and Mel Fisher
Three Hundred and Sixty-Three Years Beneath the Sand, and the Man Who Refused to Stop Looking
Of roughly 265 people aboard the Atocha, five survived.
Five survivors clung to the stump of a broken mast, all that remained above the water of a ship that had been among the best-armed vessels in a Spanish treasure fleet. Of the roughly 265 people aboard the Nuestra Señora de Atocha when the fleet sailed from Havana, they were the only ones to live through the hurricane of September 1622. The wreck would not be found again for three hundred and sixty-three years. When Mel Fisher’s company located the main deposit on July 20, 1985, it ended a search begun in 1969 that had cost the Fisher family the lives of his son Dirk, Dirk’s wife Angel and crew member Rick Gage.
A Ship and Its Cargo
The Atocha was built in Havana and entered royal service about 1621; sources differ on whether she was launched in 1620 or 1621. Secondary sources describe a galleon of about 550 tons carrying twenty bronze guns, named for a venerated image of the Virgin in Madrid. In the Tierra Firme fleet she sailed as the almiranta, the rear-guard ship. A convoy of 28 ships left Havana on September 4, 1622, about six weeks behind schedule, which put the voyage late in hurricane season. The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society lists registered cargo of silver ingots and coin, gold bars, copper and indigo, and notes that unregistered goods and jewelry were also aboard. Totals vary by source.
A Hurricane
A hurricane struck the fleet in the Florida Straits and Keys on September 5 and 6, according to secondary summaries. The Atocha was driven onto a reef in the Marquesas Keys area, west of Key West, and broke apart in about 55 feet of water. Of the roughly 265 aboard, five survived, holding on to the only part of the ship still above the surface until a passing vessel rescued them. The Society describes five young sailors, while other secondary accounts say three sailors and two enslaved men. Because enslaved people are not always counted or named in ship records, the makeup of the survivors remains open.
The First Salvage and Its Human Cost
Spanish authorities organized salvage. The Santa Margarita, aground in shallower water, was more accessible, and secondary accounts say Spanish salvors recovered close to half of her registered cargo. That work relied on enslaved divers, and secondary accounts say it was often fatal. A second hurricane on October 5, 1622, according to the Society, scattered what remained of the Atocha, and Spanish salvors searched for her for about sixty years without success.
Mel Fisher’s Sixteen Years
Fisher began the search in 1969 through his company, Treasure Salvors. Archival research in the Archive of the Indies in Seville helped locate documents on the fleet, and his crews used a propeller-wash deflector known as the mailbox to clear sand. On July 20, 1975, according to a New York Times report cited via secondary description, Dirk Fisher, Angel Fisher and Rick Gage died when their salvage boat sank; accounts of the cause differ.
The Court Cases
Florida officials claimed the wreck under state law and sought a share. A later dispute over artifacts held by Florida officials reached the Supreme Court as Florida Department of State v. Treasure Salvors, Inc., 458 U.S. 670, decided July 1, 1982. The fractured decision held that the Eleventh Amendment did not bar a federal court from ordering state officials to surrender the artifacts, but that the courts could not decide the State’s own ownership claim without its consent. It is widely described as a win for Treasure Salvors but is narrower than a broad ruling on salvage law.
The Main Pile and Today
On July 20, 1985, the main concentration of Atocha material was reported found. Family and museum accounts say Fisher’s son Kane radioed the news from the vessel Dauntless. The recovery included silver bars, gold, coins and Colombian emeralds. Published estimates of total value range from about $400 million to more than $450 million; they are estimates that vary by source. Recovered material is displayed at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West and at Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum in Sebastian. The Key West museum also presents an exhibit on the transatlantic slave trade built around the slave ship Henrietta Marie, a reminder that coerced labor runs through this Atlantic history.
Quick Facts
Ship
Spanish galleon of about 550 tons, built at Havana, in service about 1621
Role
Almiranta (rear guard) of the Tierra Firme fleet
Departure
Havana, September 4, 1622, in a convoy of 28 ships
The hurricane
September 5 to 6, 1622; counts of ships lost vary (reported as eight)
People aboard
About 265; five survived, identity disputed
Depth
About 55 feet
Modern search
Begun 1969 by Mel Fisher’s Treasure Salvors, Inc.
Supreme Court case
Florida Department of State v. Treasure Salvors, 458 U.S. 670 (July 1, 1982)
Main deposit reported found
July 20, 1985
Estimated value
About $400 million to more than $450 million, depending on source
Did You Know?
* Sources disagree on whether the five survivors were five sailors or three sailors and two enslaved men.
* A second hurricane in October 1622 scattered what remained of the wreck.
* The main deposit was reported found on July 20, 1985, ten years to the day after the 1975 accident.
Vocabulary
Almiranta: the ship that sailed at the rear of a Spanish convoy.
Ingot: a cast bar of metal.
Magnetometer: an instrument that detects metal by its effect on a magnetic field.
Discussion Questions
1. Why is the identity of the five survivors uncertain?
2. What does a ruling that is “fractured” tell us about how courts decide hard cases?
Related Articles
* FLH-0125 — The Lost Treasure Fleets of 1715
* FLH-0126 — Florida’s Forgotten Shipwreck Treasures
* FLH-0127 — The 1733 Treasure Fleet
* FLH-0128 — The Treasure Hunters of the Treasure Coast
Sources
Florida Department of State v. Treasure Salvors, Inc., 458 U.S. 670 (1982). supreme.justia.com
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society. “More 1622 Galleons.” melfisher.org
Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, Key West; Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum, Sebastian (museum websites)
Florida Keys & Key West tourism board. “Spirits of the Passage” exhibit page. visitfloridakeys.com
EBSCO Research Starters. “Sinking of the Atocha” (secondary)
Mathewson, R. Duncan III. Treasure of the Atocha. E. P. Dutton, 1986 (cited via secondary description; not independently examined)
New York Times, July 21, 1975, report on the deaths (cited via secondary description; not independently examined)
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