New wreck found

[vossy]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-06/spanish-galleon-san-jose-found-with-3-billion-of-treasure/7005266

 

cheers chris

 

[PAnderson]

That's amazing. Now a long legal battle ensues. How big was this ship that it could have 600 people on board? Was this common? That seems like a lot, packed in like sardines. Slaves? And did the British make any attempt to save any of these souls?

 

Paul

[jbshan]

That's amazing. Now a long legal battle ensues. How big was this ship that it could have 600 people on board? Was this common? That seems like a lot, packed in like sardines. Slaves? And did the British make any attempt to save any of these souls?

 

Paul

I doubt this was a slaving ship.  There may have been a few 'servants' but the main purpose of the armadas was bringing back gold, silver and jewels to Spain.  They might have carried a cargo of cocoa beans or other luxury goods.

[PAnderson]

I doubt this was a slaving ship.  There may have been a few 'servants' but the main purpose of the armadas was bringing back gold, silver and jewels to Spain.  They might have carried a cargo of cocoa beans or other luxury goods.

And 600 people? That's a LOT of servants.

[mtaylor]

Paul,

 

Think crew...  gunners, sailors working the rigging, soldiers, etc.  She wasn't a simple frigate but a 64 gun ship. 

 

There was post yesterday: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/12174-galeon-san-jose-found-worth-10-billion/   and the links inside the article give more info..  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/06/wreck-spanish-galleon-treasure-haul

 

Also, the ship blew up.. possibly a magazine explosion and survivors would have been few.  Have a look at the Battle of Nile when L'Orient blew up and the number of survivors and that ship had a larger crew.

[jbshan]

Sailors, gunners (not the same people as the crew was navy, the gunners military), assorted supernumeraries and other passengers and their entourages.  A new appointee coming out to take up a post would have many 'servants'.  Also, they left Spain, stopped perhaps at the Canaries then across to New Spain, not going near the slave trading entrepots of the Guinea Coast.

These were perhaps larger than comparable English warships as they also served as cargo, trading and passenger conveyances.  Perhaps a better comparison could be made with East India Company or VOC ships.

[PAnderson]

From that era, it still amazes me that a ship that size could accomodate 600 people. I know these were large ships even for that time. But these were not cruise ships. I am just showing amazement at that number. And the weight of the cargo. I would assume all of that does not make this ship a good fighting ship under those circumstances.

 

Paul

Edited December 6, 2015 by PAnderson

[Nirvana]

Interesting find, maybe the model will be updated as well.

 

This is what the link said:

 

Experts confirmed that they had located the San Jose, which was lying on its side, when identifying it by its unique bronze cannons with engraved dolphins.

"The amount and type of the material leave no doubt of the identity" of the shipwreck, said Ernesto Montenegro, head of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History.

 

[Tadeusz43]

Hi,

The crews in those days were very numerous and completed from commanding staff, sailors, soldiers and gunners . 
the crew also consisted of armorers, sail maker and carpenters. 
You could not miss the cooks as well as a surgeon and a chaplain.

The Vasa crew it was 445man .

 French 74-gun ship has completment of some 750 man

 

Tadeusz

[jbshan]

Most of the 'cargo' would have been gold, silver and jewels.  They don't take up a lot of room, perhaps one small compartment.  At least as much came on board as contraband, which is why many went out in the first place, a chance to get stinking rich, if they could sneak it by the government inspectors in Spain.

Lots of space in the hold for food and water, though perhaps the sleeping accommodations were a bit less savory than the quality was used to.

Edited December 6, 2015 by jbshan

[mtaylor]

Let's add in that out of 600 men, probably 300 were sleeping at any given time due to the way the watches were set up. 

[marinero]

Hello I translated a news article from colombian magazine semana.com to share some details. Hope you find it interesting

 

King Felipe V de España needed the money to pay for the war with the american independanse armies. It had been six years since the king had received any money to Spain. Galeon San Jose was loaded with the valuables acumulated during this period.
During the loading of the ship it was kept extremely secret and only the ships captain and the comander of the Cartagena spanish base new of the contents. The captains ship log can be seen at the museum in Seville and it was a key piece of evidense to find the galeon. Personal and comercial loads was done in sealed wood crates and they paid freight charges by the weight.
Peru's vice king's family was among the people on board along with their valuables that must have been large.

Did the galeon blow up
No acording to the graphic evidence taken at site

Ship Load
It carried emeralds,gold ans silver bricks,the tax collected over several years and other valuable objects

Rescue company
Sea Search Armada (SSA)
Colombia will keep 50% of the recued treasure. They will build a museum in honor of the ship.
Relatives of the ships ocupants will probably sue to get their share.

 

[mtaylor]

Hmm... the news articles are saying it "blew up".  Strange.

[jbshan]

There may have been an explosion that didn't pulverize the structure so the guns, anchors and bottom timbers stayed pretty much in place.  It's in 800 feet of water so kind of hard to survey, plus the legal battle has probably delayed any exploration.

[shiloh]

A low order or small charge that would raise the internal pressure a few psi could spring old Teredo Worm compromised planking or rotted Hull Timbers, opening seams that would quickly fill and sink her.

jud