TheWreck of the San Pedro

[jeff of pa]

The Patriot-News​

The Daily Morning Patriot
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania · Friday, March 24, 1871

 

[Crow]

The
San Pedro de Alcántara was a 64-gun Spanish ship-of-the-line that caught fire and sank near Coche Island, Venezuela, in April 1815. It was part of a fleet sent to suppress colonial revolutions, and its explosion scattered over 800,000 silver coins across the seabed.

The wreck of the San Pedro de Alcantara lies in an entirely land-locked position, in approximately sixty feet of water, where storms and rough winds never interfere with work. It was worked on for six years by a dredge. The exact amount recovered was never clarified. But a treasure of coins no doubt still lies buried in the sand of the sea bed.

Crow

 

[Mackaydon]

Another opinion:
" On April 25, 1815, the colossal "San Pedro de Alcántara," the flagship of Pablo Morillo's 65-man fleet, anchored between Coche and Cubagua. It was said to carry 1,200,000 gold pesos from the Fleet's treasury, but during loading, a crate broke, spilling only nails. That day, the ship exploded, taking 1,500 rifles, hundreds of men, heavy crates of nails, and the mystery of who divided the treasure before leaving Cádiz to the bottom of the sea. Morillo began his Pacification without funds and imposed heavy taxes that would only intensify the patriots' resistance. Empires are lost by saving thieves."
Source: https://luisbrittogarcia.blogspot.com/2015/11/lecciones-de-la-historia.html
Don in So Cal

 

[Crow]

Another opinion:
" On April 25, 1815, the colossal "San Pedro de Alcántara," the flagship of Pablo Morillo's 65-man fleet, anchored between Coche and Cubagua. It was said to carry 1,200,000 gold pesos from the Fleet's treasury, but during loading, a crate broke, spilling only nails. That day, the ship exploded, taking 1,500 rifles, hundreds of men, heavy crates of nails, and the mystery of who divided the treasure before leaving Cádiz to the bottom of the sea. Morillo began his Pacification without funds and imposed heavy taxes that would only intensify the patriots' resistance. Empires are lost by saving thieves."
Source: https://luisbrittogarcia.blogspot.com/2015/11/lecciones-de-la-historia.html
Don in So Cal

Interesting question, but the cargo from Spain was most likely nails and rifles and troops. The cargo manifest from Spain will show this. maybe there was no treasure was sent from Spain.

But the cargo for the return voyage was vastly different: Spaniards fleeing with money and treasure back to Spain.

Newcastle Chronicle (NSW : 1866 - 1876), Thursday 15 June 1871, page 4, paints a different picture.

Blowing-up of the San Pedro and Loss of 800 Lives.

On the first of next month, the Nellie Gay, barque, will leave New York for Cumana Bay, Venezuela, under the auspices of the American Submarine Company, for the purpose of working upon the old wreck of the Spanish line-of-battle ship SanPedro de Alcantra, which blew up in the bay of Cumana, in the year 1815. The story of the loss of this vessel is of the most disastrous character, and is as follows : — ' In the middle of February, 1815, there sailed from Cadiz an expedition almost rivalling, with its ninety-nine vessels, the famous Spanish Armada, which, more than 300 years ago, left. the Tagus for the annihilation of the British navy. The fleet was intended for the complete subjugation of the young Republics of South America, which were then in revolt against their Spanish rulers. The fleet consisted of the San Pedro de Alcantra, the admiral's ship, of seventy-four guns, three frigates, thirty smaller gun vessels, with an armament of cannon ranging from eighteen to thirty-two pounders, and sixty-five transports with 18,000 troops. The flagship bad on board chests containing 3,000,000 dollars in Spanish doubloons, and all the vessels succeeded in safely reaching Cumana Bay. A portion of the troops landed, and several unsuccessful engagements took place with the insurgents, who had intrenched themselves near the city of Cutnaua, which then contained a population of about 30,000 people.

The loyal Spaniards and nobility, finding that the King of Spain was becoming daily more unpopular, decided to take their families and valuables on board the San Pedro, where the commander offered them every hospitality. The process of transferring the gold and silver plate, flee, from the city to the ship occupied nearly fifteen days. After having suffered a number of severe defeats at the hands of the Republicans, the Spaniards concluded to pillage the magnificent Cathedral of the Concepcion, together with all the other churches of Cumana, and after having transferred the booty on board the flagship, to abandon the enterprise. This was done, and on the following day, all the vessels were to set sail, taking the loyal subjects and the troops back to Spain. On the eve of the departure, a fire was discovered in the spirit room of the San Pedro. The flames spread very rapidly and were quickly seen streaming from the portholes forward and aft. The fire soon reached the deck, and rendered all attempts to reach the boats ineffectual, and as the guns were all charged, none of the other vessels dared approach. The flames speedily reached the magazine, and the whole stem of the ship was blown out, the vessel sinking in ten fathoms of water, with about 800 persons on board, all being drowned.

Since then, different expeditions have been fitted out to try to recover the specie and valuables. In 1845, a French company endeavoured to get at the treasure, but failed; but, in 1850, Captain Couth way sailed from Boston for the wreck, and, after several months' work, secured just 70,000 dollars in money and plate, including a diamond cross worth 10,000 dollars. - In 1867, Captain Scandella, who had been engaged in raising some of the vessels lost in the great tidal wave at Sc. Thomas, went to Cumana Bay in the schooner Mary Gage, and on arriving there he was informed that a stray wrecker from the Island of Trinidad had been at work on the wreck, and had found, a gold crown set with precious stones, which had formerly belonged to the statue of the Virgin in the Cathedral of the Concepcion, and which was valued at 12,000 dollars. Other divers also have, in the wreck of the San Pedro, found great quantities of human bones and jewellery. A large piece of coral, in which were embedded a number of Spanish dollars, has also been found. The expedition, which Bails on the first of next month, will have on board all the most improved diving apparatus and will be superintended by the most experienced divers. The amount of gold coins, plates, jewellery, and precious stones that still remain in the wreck of the San Pedro is said to be something fabulous, and nearly all the Spanish specie chests that were on board the San Pedro are believed to remain intact, as they were constructed of iron.

These earlier attempts of salvage are interesting.

In 1815, during the
Spanish reconquest of Venezuela led by General Pablo Morillo, Cumaná experienced significant turmoil, with reports of churches being looted by troops. As part of the “pacification” campaign, Spanish forces seized resources from local institutions to fund their campaign. Spanish Reconquest: In April/May 1815, Pablo Morillo’s expeditionary force arrived in Venezuela, landing at Carupano and Margarita before moving to secure Cumaná and Caracas.

The Cambrian newspapers DATE: 18 February 1815

Context of Looting: The royalist army, aiming to re-establish control, engaged in intense campaigns that included seizing assets. While the main focus was on defeating patriot forces and securing resources for the long siege of Cartagena (which began in August 1815), church properties were often subjected to looting by various factions during the chaotic war. Impact on Region: The arrival of the royalist forces in 1815 was part of a broader, violent effort to reverse the gains of the Venezuelan patriots, leading to widespread disruption in eastern Venezuela.

Here is an article from 1845

Crow