1715 Treasure Fleet facts for kids
The 1715 Treasure Fleet was a group of Spanish ships carrying valuable treasure from the New World back to Spain. On July 31, 1715, early in the morning, a powerful hurricane hit the fleet. This happened seven days after they left Havana, Cuba.
Eleven out of the twelve ships were lost near what is now Vero Beach, Florida. The fleet was carrying a lot of silver, so it's also called the 1715 Plate Fleet. Plata is the Spanish word for silver. Even today, people sometimes find old coins and other items from these shipwrecks on Florida beaches.
About 1,500 sailors sadly lost their lives in the storm. A few people survived in lifeboats. Many ships, including those belonging to pirates, quickly started trying to salvage the treasure. A privateer named Henry Jennings was involved in disputes over the salvaged treasure.
Contents
Finding and Showing the Treasure
A treasure hunter named Kip Wagner and his team created an exhibit at the National Geographic "Explorers Hall" in Washington, D.C.. This exhibit was even featured in the January 1965 issue of National Geographic magazine. This was the start of a wonderful collection of treasure from the 1715 fleet, which attracted many visitors from all over the world.
Kip Wagner also wrote a book called Pieces of Eight in 1966. It tells the exciting story of how he found and explored many of these shipwrecks along Florida's "Treasure Coast." An exhibit was opened on May 1, 1967, at the First National Bank of Satellite Beach, Florida.
In 1987, one of the fleet's ships, the Urca de Lima, became the first shipwreck to be protected as part of the Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves. This means it's a special underwater site where history is kept safe.
Later, Mel Fisher's company sold the rights to the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks to another company called Queens Jewels, LLC. In 2015, 1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels, LLC and their founder Brent Brisben found $4.5 million worth of gold coins off the coast of Florida. These coins also came from the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks.
Ships of the Fleet
Here are some of the ships that have been identified from the 1715 Treasure Fleet:
- Urca de Lima
- former HMS Hampton Court (1678)
- Santo Cristo de San Roman
- Nuestra Señora de las Nieves
- Nuestra Señora del Rosario y San Francisco Xavier
- Nuestra Señora de Carmen y San Antonio
The Fleet in Movies and Games
The 1715 Treasure Fleet has inspired many stories in movies and video games!
Movies
- In the 2008 movie Fool's Gold, the main characters are looking for one of the sunken ships from the treasure fleet and its hidden riches.
- The 1977 movie The Deep features a story where divers find items from a ship believed to be the twelfth ship of the 1715 Treasure Fleet. This ship, called Grifon, was thought to have sunk off the coast of Bermuda.
Video Games
- The treasure fleet is a big part of the video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. The main character, Edward Kenway, starts the game as a prisoner on one of the fleet's ships. He escapes during the hurricane with the help of his friend Adéwalé. They steal the twelfth ship, a brig called El Dorado, which Edward renames the Jackdaw. This ship becomes the player's main ship for the rest of the game.
TV Shows
- The Starz TV show Black Sails focuses a lot on the 1715 Treasure Fleet in its first season. The largest ship, the Urca de Lima, is wrecked during the hurricane off the coast of Florida. It was carrying a huge amount of gold, silver, and other valuable items. Captain Flint and his crew try to find this treasure, which is often called "the Urca gold" throughout the series.
See also
In Spanish: Flota de Indias de 1715 para niños
