The 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet
Eleven ships. A single hurricane. $500 million still in the sand after every storm season.
- Category
- shipwreck
- Status
- partially recovered
- Year lost
- 1715
- Region
- Florida Treasure Coast
- Country
- United States
- Body of water
- Atlantic Ocean
The dossier
On July 31, 1715, eleven Spanish ships loaded with colonial wealth sailed from Havana bound for Spain. They were running late in the season—hurricane season. In the early hours of August 1, a massive hurricane slammed into the fleet near present-day Vero Beach, Florida. All eleven ships were wrecked. More than 1,000 sailors drowned. The cargo they carried was staggering: silver pieces of eight from the mines of Potosí, gold escudos minted in Mexico City, jewelry commissioned for the Spanish court, and thousands of pounds of Chinese porcelain that had made the long Pacific crossing before being reloaded onto these Atlantic ships. Survivors made it ashore and set up a salvage camp. Spanish divers recovered significant amounts over the following years, but they could only work in calm conditions, and the shallow bottom constantly shifted. Hurricanes refilled trenches overnight. By the time Spain officially abandoned the effort, much remained. Today, the 1715 Fleet wreck sites are scattered along a 35-mile stretch of Florida's Treasure Coast. After every major storm, new coins wash ashore. Modern salvors have recovered millions. In 2015, a family salvage team found a gold chain measuring nearly nine feet and a series of extremely rare "Royal" coins—minted in small quantities for the Spanish king and never meant for circulation. Researchers believe that as little as 30% of the known cargo has ever been recovered. The rest has either been absorbed into the seafloor or waits in undiscovered debris fields beyond the current licensed zones.
Cargo and value
Silver pieces of eight, gold escudos, Chinese porcelain, jewelry
Legal status
Multiple licensed salvage zones along Florida coast. Primary licensee: 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC. Beach metal detecting in 1-mile buffer zones is legally contested and varies by county.