Queen Elizabeths Methods over 430 Years ago

[jeff of pa]

West Schuylkill Herald (Tower City, Pennsylvania) 24 Sep 1909, Fri

 

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[grantler]

A nice book about "" The Tobermory Treasure"" by Alison McLeay and a Foreword by the Duke of Argyll .
Unfortunaly only black and white fotos .

 

[Red-Coat]

It’s a lovely story, much of it supported by history, but the suggestion that the ship was carrying treasure is a myth that built up over time, largely as result of the ship being misidentified and confused with other Spanish ships.

It’s now generally accepted that the wreck has been positively identified as the “San Juan de Sicilia”, one of many ships commandeered to reinforce the Spanish Armada. She was originally named the “Brod Martolosi”, based out of Ragusa (modern Dubrovnic) and captained by Luka Ivanov Kinkovic. The Spanish pressed her into service (probably in 1586) and renamed her the “Santa Maria de Gracia y San Juan Bautista” but since she was one of several ships named after St John the Baptist, she became known as the “San Juan de Sicilia” to differentiate her from the others. She then became one of ten ships that formed the “Levant squadron” of the Armada and was captained by Diego Tellez Enr?quez.

The rumours that the wreck was a treasure ship began to spring up soon after the catastrophic sinking, reinforced by stories from the Scottish visitors and hostages held on the ship that the captain (referred to as “Don Diego”) “dined off the finest silver at every meal”. The wreck became known as "the Armada treasure-ship", was mistakenly dubbed the “Florida” (also “Florencia”) and wrongly identified as the “almirante” (flagship) of the Spanish fleet, carrying a treasure of "30,000,000 of money [ducats]". In fact, the fleet’s flagship (Sao Martinho) made it back to Spain, and no ship by the name “Florida” is known to have taken part in the Spanish Armada. There was a ship called the “Duque de Florencia” but she wasn’t the flagship, and also survived the destruction of the Armada.

Over the years, numerous artefacts have been recovered from the wreck such guns, anchors, pewter platters, and medals but nothing that could be called treasure apart from a silver bell. Like all such Spanish ships she would have been carrying her own “pay chest” but it hasn’t been recovered and won’t contain the great riches conjured up by the legend.

 

[Mackaydon]

The remains of the San Juan de Sicilia have been destroyed by countless searches for gold per Wiki.
Don.....

 

[Red-Coat]

The remains of the San Juan de Sicilia have been destroyed by countless searches for gold per Wiki.
Don.....

From the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland RCAHMS (RJCM):

The area of this suggested wreck was visited by Wessex Archaeology in August 2006 under a contract for an Undesignated Site Assessment issued by Historic Scotland, and in advance of possible commercial salvage diving. Geophysical survey (using chirp sounder, echo-sounder and sidescan sonar) extended across much of the W part of Tobermory Bay. This was followed by diver verification of anomalies; bottom time totalled 109 minutes.

The location of the wreck remains unknown, the depth of burial is uncertain, and the previously-identified archaeological deposits have been extensively worked-over. The Poop Company Ltd is understood to have undertaken a geophysical survey and located the stern of the vessel. The location of this possible discovery remains unknown [or rather, unreported] and the survival of such a coherent structure is considered improbable, but cannot be totally discounted. Surviving structural remains are probably limited to keel- and floor-timbers, possibly with other elements of limited size.

Within the survey area, the seabed comprises largely a fine-grained sedimentary deposit (probably of silt and/or clay) overlying a coarse-grained compacted sedimentary deposit (possibly comprising sands and gravels). The underlying basement bedrock probably comprises tertiary lavas. The thickness of these deposits is variable, the compacted sediment and the bedrock lying between 1 and 11m and between 5 and 20m respectively below the seabed.

Six anomalies were identified [one of which is apparently a modern mooring], and found to include deep depressions, which presumably represent previous attempts at exploration or salvage. No archaeological evidence consistent with the loss of this vessel was identified, and probing failed to detect any archaeological deposit.