Ossy,
It's like Pavlov and his dogs. Mention a Spanish wreck and you get the predictable reaction. The wreck of the San Felipe from 1576 has recently been found on the coast of Baja California, and artifacts from the site are on display at the San Diego Museum. Spain is fully aware of the non-profit recovery and is approving. Also, there is substantial work going on, with the knowledge and approval of Spain, to identify and find the remains of the Beewsax Manila Galleon at Nehalem, on the Oregon coast, again on a non-profit basis.
In neither case has Spain tried to claim the recovered artifacts. In my opinion, if somebody found a Manila Galleon and sought Spain's cooperation in its recovery, they would get that cooperation, even if the salvage was for profit, provided the recovery was to be carried out using proper archaeological techniques. I have had discussions on a couple of projects over the years with the dreaded Jim Goold, the attorney for Spain in the USA, and have always found him to be reasonable, if approached properly. He also represents the National Geographic Society, by the way, which is how I first met him.
Incidentally, I am pretty sure that a Manila Galleon would not be classified as a Sovereign Vessel. Virtually all the ships were owned by Spain, but most of the cargoes were privately owned, and the Manila-Acapulco trade was mostly commercial.
By the way, Ossy, your experience with Diving Doc has also been mine, and I have a lot of time for him and his knowledge. I thought it was unfortunate that he stopped participating in this forum, and I think that Odyssey used big bully tactics with him (using their investors' funds by the way) because he pointed out some problems with their approach on a couple of important projects. So far, it seems to me that what Doc said about those projects was true, or has so far not yet been shown to be untrue.
But back to the Manila Galleons. The 17th century started with the loss of the San Antonio in 1604, and finished with the loss of the San Cristo de Burgos in 1696. I cannot remember off the top of my head any losses in between, though there might have been some. I have some anecdotal evidence which suggests that the San Antonio might have wrecked on the coast of British Columbia, Canada, and there are some who think that the Nehalem wreck was the San Christo de Burgos, though I personally think it was probably the San Francis Xavier from 1705.
Do you have a view on which vessel wrecked on Morton Island?
Best wishes,
Mariner.
