Santiago el Grande is an elusive 18th-century Spanish galleon historically reported to have sunk in 1765 on the Grand Bahama Bank. Purported to be carrying a massive cargo of gold and silver, it has never been definitively located and is treated by many maritime historians as an unresolved mystery or "ghost wreck"
There is a map that mentions a galleon wreck, but does not give its name.1775 Jefferys Map of Cuba and the Florida Keys. It has the words Galleon wrecked 1765 below. As you can see, north east of Orange Key.
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Today, the approximate search area is shown below. The three search areas might be worth checking out for ballast piles.
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There are claims of the shipwreck holding the following below.
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The search is in the archive de indies for shipping records or manifests.
There was a claim in 1994. A small cache of emeralds, gold and silver coins has been found in the sunken remains of an 18th Century Spanish galleon near Bimini, raising hopes among the salvage crew that the fabled and elusive Santiago El Grande has been found. The treasure-ladened ship-the very existence of which has been debated for years-is thought to have gone under during a 1765 hurricane while carrying one of history’s largest cargoes of gold and silver coins from South America through Havana to Spain.
“It all matches up, the carbon dating, the size of the ship, the maps from the archives,” said Canadian treasure hunter Rick Meyer, who has led a five-year search for the ship. “There’s no way to be sure yet, but we think we’ve found her.” The first “cut in the coral” was discovered last fall, and searchers gradually came across wood planks and other debris.
Meyer, 36, who says he and investors have spent $3 million searching for the ship, said he became convinced he had a major find in January when he discovered enough of the ship to verify its size and confirmed the age of the Spanish red oak ribs through the carbon dating.
Skeptics abound.“Sometimes these treasure hunters spend so much time looking for one ship, when they finally find something they convince themselves it’s what they’ve been looking for,” said Pat Clyne, spokesman for successful treasure hunter Mel Fisher, who has recovered $400 million since 1985 from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha near Key West.
“He may have found it; he’s obviously found something,” said Eugene Lyons, a renowned Spanish colonial historian from St. Petersburg, Fla. “But
there is no list from the Spanish archives with the name of this ship on it. If I had to decide, I’d say the Santiago El Grande is a ghost ship.”
Last Friday, while diving in less than 100 feet of water, which Meyer says means salvagers can work without heavy gear and with natural light, he vacuumed a marble-sized emerald from the sand. In the next few hours, Meyer gathered 37 emeralds, ranging from tiny to about 20 carats, with a total weight of about 200 carats. He also found gold and silver coins, he said.“Things were getting better, too, but we were stopped cold by the weather,” he said.
The gems were found slowly at first, but then one after another, making Meyer think he was getting closer to the main treasure before rough seas forced him to bring his 45-foot cabin cruiser and eight-man crew back to South Florida. Meyer says he will organize “a massive salvage operation.” Although the emeralds, now in a vault in Nassau, have not been appraised, they could be worth as much as $9,500 per carat, depending on where they were mined and their quality, according to Corey Malcom, director of archaeology at Mel Fisher’s Maritime Heritage Society. Meyer believes the emeralds were mined in Colombia.
Whether his find is the Santiago El Grande remains a question.
Meyer said he has the centuries-old list of the ship’s cargo from Spanish archives. It indicates 238 tons of silver and 2.5 tons of gold were aboard. Meyer says that would be worth $3 billion in today’s market. The Problem his alleged wreck discovery is too far north compared to the historic map, where the wrecked galleon from 1765 was closer, further south to Orange Key.
However, there was an alleged diver involved with him who disputed Rick Meyers' claims.
I WAS A DIVER ON THIS WRECK WITH RICK MEYER... THIS GUY GOT KICKED OFF THE BOAT CAUSE HE LIED TO THE BAHAMIAN GOV ABOUT HIS CRIMINAL HISTORY.... FRAUD.... AND THAT'S WHAT HE DID.... YES, THERE IS A WRECK THERE, BUT IT'S A SLAVE SHIP ... WE FOUND THE FRESH WATER, BALEST STONES, WOOD, AND NAILS... BUT NO EMERALDS ... HE BOUGHT THOSE FROM COLOMBIA AND PLANTED THEM TO GET MORE MONEY FROM THE INVESTORS .... WHEN I TOLD HIM HE WAS FULL OF S***T ... HE FIRED US .... THE MAN COULD NOT DIVE 10 FEET SMOKING 3 PACKS OF CIGARETTES AND GOES DOWN 30 FEET BY HIM SELF AND FINDS 30 UNCUT EMERALDS ... PLEASE .... THE CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE TOOK CARE OF HIM ... BUT IT WAS A FUN SUMMER... JOHNNY CARSON ALSO LOOKED FOR THE WRECK AND FOUND SOME OF THE DIE WOOD USED TO MAKE THE ROYAL BLUES FOR THEIR CLOTHES ...
Regardless of the above claims, and the Santiago el Grande did not exist, their alleged site is not where this mystery ship was marked on the 1775 Jefferys Map of Cuba and the Florida Keys. What was the identity of this ship from 1765?
Crow
