About the 1563s Juan Menendez fleet

[Vox veritas]

About the 1563's Juan Menendez fleet

Have the 1563 wrecks of the Angel Bueno and La Concepcion been found? | Living & Entertainment | KeysNet

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[signumops]

Vox:
The wreck site was listed by the State of Florida as site 17, and in October of 1978, Bobby Jordan, working off his boat, the Castillian, was performing excavations to the northwest of American Shoals lighthouse when he recovered a broken bronze cannon and another intact bronze cannon about 8 foot long. Associated wreckage included ballast and pottery on a bearing of 335 degrees leading away from the lighthouse toward Sugarloaf Key. State agent Tommy Gore was with Jordan when these guns were discovered, and the pair was removed to the Florida Marine Patrol office in Key West. Where they went from there is anybody's guess. None of this information is found in the KeyInfoNet story, but it is covered in The Rainbow Chasers first edition by Tommy Gore and myself, on page 164-165.
I lived on Summerland Key for 12 years and spent a great deal of time in the vicinity myself, but I never found anything out there. On the other hand, I never lingered around the lighthouse itself because it was almost always surrounded by people fishing, and it is a treacherous spot. However, earlier in 1966, I did find a huge Spanish era anchor in the sound between Big Pine and Ramrod, which might have been from one of the fleet (who knows, could be from any ship of that period), and I understand that it was removed to the front yard of a trailer residence on one of the lower keys later on. Whoever has the cannon found by Jordan would be able to shed significant light on the origin of the wreck. I think the Robinsons are aware of this, and I'm sure that Whitey knows about it, more than likely, first-hand from Jordan.

 

[Vox veritas]

I think this article has many dark spots.

 

[Roofis]

But didn't you post the article ? You and everyone else have the ships in a totally different location, not even close to American shoal.not even close to Florida. How did the bronze cannon group come up with that one?

 

[signumops]

But didn't you post the article ? You and everyone else have the ships in a totally different location, not even close to American shoal.not even close to Florida. How did the bronze cannon group come up with that one?

Per Fontenada: “Other vessels have been lost, among them the armada of New Spain, of which it
was said the son of Pedro Menendez was General for the Indians took a Spaniard that reached the shore
whom they found starving. And I saw him alive and talked with him and one Juan Rodriguez, a native of
Nicaragua. He told us that they came from New Spain, and were going to Castile; that the General was a
son of Pedro Menendez, the Asturian; that he came as a sailor in another vessel; and that the people of
neither knew any thing of what had befallen the other, until the Indians armed themselves to go to the
coast of Ais, when he saw them go and return with great wealth, in bars of silver and gold, and bags of
reales, and much clothing. As he was newly captured, or found, and understood not the Indians, I and
Juan Rodriguez were the interpreters for this man, and others, as we already knew the language. It was
a consolation, though a sad one, for those who were lost aft er us to find on shore Christi an companions
who could share their hardships and help them to understand those brutes. Many Spaniards have saved
their lives by finding themselves with Christian companions already there.”

Page 153 from "A Hundred Giants".

 

[Vox veritas]

Several witnesses from several ships say: they sailed from Havana on August 15, 1563. On September 10 and 70 leagues from Bermuda the ships of the fleet were separated by a storm. Other witnesses said that they had led the Bahama Channel. There seems no doubt that the Concepcion and the Angel Bueno are not in Florida. In addition, Jose Carlos Millas, in his book "Hurricanes of the Carribbean and adjacent regions 1492-1800", warns that not hurricane or storm in 1563, although this may not be 100% conclusive.

 

[Vox veritas]

Per Fontenada: “Other vessels have been lost, among them the armada of New Spain, of which it
was said the son of Pedro Menendez was General for the Indians took a Spaniard that reached the shore
whom they found starving. And I saw him alive and talked with him and one Juan Rodriguez, a native of
Nicaragua. He told us that they came from New Spain, and were going to Castile; that the General was a
son of Pedro Menendez, the Asturian; that he came as a sailor in another vessel; and that the people of
neither knew any thing of what had befallen the other, until the Indians armed themselves to go to the
coast of Ais, when he saw them go and return with great wealth, in bars of silver and gold, and bags of
reales, and much clothing. As he was newly captured, or found, and understood not the Indians, I and
Juan Rodriguez were the interpreters for this man, and others, as we already knew the language. It was
a consolation, though a sad one, for those who were lost aft er us to find on shore Christi an companions
who could share their hardships and help them to understand those brutes. Many Spaniards have saved
their lives by finding themselves with Christian companions already there.”

Page 153 from "A Hundred Giants".

Curious, exactly a Juan Rodriguez, helmsman said everything happened to the fleet in Seville in 1563.

 

[El Zoro veritas]