The Lost Treasure Fleets of 1715
The Hurricane That Scattered Spain’s Treasure Along Florida’s Coast
Much of the treasure went home to Spain, but a great deal stayed on the seafloor.
On the night of July 30 into the early morning of July 31, 1715, a hurricane struck a Spanish homeward-bound fleet off Florida’s east coast. Eleven Spanish ships were lost, along with a large but uncertain number of lives. Survivors reached the beach, built camps and began to salvage what they could. Much of the treasure went back to Spain, but a great deal remained on the seafloor, and the wrecks were little known to the public until the 1950s and 1960s, when a builder and beachcomber named Kip Wagner began tracing coins he found back to the fleet. It is one of the better-documented treasure disasters in Florida’s history.
An Empire That Sailed on Silver
For roughly two centuries Spain moved much of the wealth of its American colonies, silver from Mexico and Peru above all, to Europe in convoys known as fleets and galleon squadrons. In 1715 the crown, under King Philip V, was recovering from the War of the Spanish Succession and needed the revenue. Two convoys were combined at Havana for the return voyage: the Nueva España fleet under Captain-General Juan Esteban de Ubilla, and the Tierra Firme squadron under Antonio de Echeverz y Zubiza. A French ship, Le Grifon, traveled home with them. Hurricane season had begun, but delay carried its own costs, and the fleet left Havana in late July, reportedly on July 24.
The Storm
About a week out, a hurricane caught the fleet off Florida’s east coast. Secondary accounts place its height at about 2 a.m. on July 31, and the ships were driven toward shoals and shore along a stretch of coast generally described as running from the Fort Pierce and St. Lucie Inlet area north to Sebastian Inlet. Le Grifon is reported to have stayed farther offshore and returned safely to Europe.
One Spanish vessel, a storeship owned by Miguel de Lima and later known as the Urca de Lima, grounded near Fort Pierce. According to Florida’s Museums in the Sea, it carried general cargo rather than royal treasure, and its remains survive as an archaeological site. The human toll is uncertain. Reputable secondary accounts range from hundreds to more than 700, more than 1,000, and about 1,500 dead, the last attributed to Cuban records.
Survivors, Salvagers and a Raid
Survivors made camps on the beach, and some were still there in September. Relief came from Havana, and Admiral Francisco Salmón is associated in the secondary literature with the Spanish salvage camp, where recovery was carried out largely by free diving in shallow water. Museums in the Sea reports that Spanish crews salvaged the Urca de Lima first, then burned its remains to the waterline to hide its position from English freebooters.
Estimates of the registered treasure and of how much Spain recovered differ, and this article gives no total. The salvage camp attracted English privateers. Henry Jennings is reported to have attacked it and taken a large quantity of silver, commonly estimated at about 350,000 pesos, in an assault dated to late 1715 or early 1716.
Centuries Beneath the Sand
Isolated coins came ashore after storms over the years, but the wrecks were not systematically explored until the twentieth century. According to numismatic and local histories, the modern search began in the 1950s, when Kip Wagner, who lived in the Sebastian and Vero Beach area, noticed gold and silver coins washing up on nearby beaches.
In 1961, after Wagner’s crew recovered more than 2,000 pieces of eight on January 8, the Real Eight Company was formed. Mel Fisher’s company later partnered with it. The popular origin of the name Treasure Coast is generally credited to these finds, though its date and origin have not been documented here.
What Remains Today
The Urca de Lima rests in shallow water off Fort Pierce. It became Florida’s first Underwater Archaeological Preserve when the state program began in 1987, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The McLarty Treasure Museum at Sebastian Inlet State Park interprets the fleet’s story and stands on property described as part of a survivors’ camp. Coins are still occasionally found on local beaches, and modern commercial salvage continues under state oversight.
Quick Facts
Departure
Havana, reportedly July 24, 1715
Vessels
Eleven Spanish ships lost; the French ship Le Grifon survived
Commanders
Juan Esteban de Ubilla (Nueva España) and Antonio de Echeverz y Zubiza (Tierra Firme)
The storm
Hurricane, night of July 30–31, 1715
Where
Coast from the Fort Pierce/St. Lucie Inlet area north to Sebastian Inlet
Lives lost
Uncertain; sources range from hundreds to about 1,500
Urca de Lima
Storeship near Fort Pierce; state preserve (1987); National Register (2001)
Raid on the camp
Henry Jennings, late 1715 or early 1716
Modern rediscovery
Kip Wagner, 1950s; Real Eight Company formed 1961
Not part of this fleet
The Atocha (1622) and the 1733 fleet
Did You Know?
* Eleven Spanish ships were lost, but a French ship sailing with the fleet reached Europe safely.
* The Urca de Lima carried general cargo, not royal treasure, and is now an underwater preserve.
* Spanish crews burned part of one wreck to the waterline to hide it from English freebooters.
Vocabulary
Flota: a Spanish treasure fleet that sailed between Spain and its American colonies.
Peso: a Spanish silver coin; the unit in which treasure was commonly counted.
Salvage: the recovery of cargo or a vessel from a wreck.
Discussion Questions
1. Why did the Spanish fleet sail in hurricane season despite the risk?
2. How should a historian handle sources that disagree about the number of dead?
Related Articles
* FLH-0126 — Florida’s Forgotten Shipwreck Treasures
* FLH-0127 — The 1733 Treasure Fleet
* FLH-0128 — The Treasure Hunters of the Treasure Coast
* FLH-0129 — The Atocha and Mel Fisher
Sources
Newton, Lowell W. “Juan Esteban de Ubilla and the Flota of 1715.” The Americas 33, no. 2 (1976): 267–281 (cited via secondary description; not independently examined)
Wagner, Kip, with L. B. Taylor. Pieces of Eight. 1966 (cited via secondary description; not independently examined)
Florida’s Museums in the Sea. “Urca de Lima” history page. museumsinthesea.com
Burgess, Robert F. Sunken Treasure: Six Who Found Fortunes. Dodd, Mead, 1988 (cited via secondary description; not independently examined)
CoinWeek and 1715 Fleet Society (popular and society sources; supplementary only)
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