A Norwegian steamer also known as Aristo, that grounded after mistaking the Colon wreck for a ship still underway. She was recovered from the reef, but sank under tow the following day.
A 350-ton Spanish ship that was wrecked to the north of the main island, and discovered in 1951. Valuable treasures and artifacts have been raised, including a 32-ounce gold bar, two smaller gold bars, and an emerald-studded gold cross.
An English steamer that ran aground off Gibs Hill Light. The ship was refloated but then abandoned at Five Fathom's Hole, and later blown up as a hazard to navigation.
A 64-foot-long (20m) fishing boat, and sister ship of the Hickory. It lies in El Portillo, Las Terrenas, and has served as an underwater base for rescue operations.
A 140-foot-long (43m) former US Coast Guard vessel, commanded by Captain Tracy Bowden for underwater exploration and rescue operations, the Hickory was sunk by Hurricane George while carrying 50 passengers. All survived. It is now a national park in La Caleta, Santo Domingo.
An old tugboat 155 feet (47m) long that rests in about 80 feet (24m) of water very close to the Hickory in the same park. This ship was scuttled there for the same reason – to serve as a tourist attraction. The depth where this shipwreck lies varies from 27–60 feet (8.2–18.3m). The three propellers of this tugboat are still clearly visible.[1]
Thought to have been a merchant trader, probably sunk in the latter part of the 17th century. Named for the large number of clay smoking pipes it carried as cargo.
This Spanish treasure ship built in 1620 was reportedly overloaded with silver bullion for its return journey to Spain as part of the 1641 treasure fleet. The fleet sailed from Havana on 20 September 1641 but was heavily hit by a hurricane nine days later. Concepción got separated from the main fleet and tried to make for Puerto Rico, but on October 31 foundered and sank on a sand bank north of Hispaniola, which is now called Silver Bank after this shipwreck.
First found by William Phips in 1687, his operation managed to salvage 34 tons of silver and other treasure.[lower-alpha 1] Back in England the expedition's revenue was assessed as £205,536.[lower-alpha 2]
In the 20th century it was the object of several known treasure hunting expeditions: A. Korganoff in 1952, Edwin Link in 1955, Falcon-Barker in 1962[4] and Cousteau in 1968, until finally being re-discovered by Burt Webber in 1978. More than 95,000 silver coins, Ming Dynasty ceramics, gold chains, and many other artifacts were salvaged at that time.[5][6][7][8][2]
An Indian merchant vessel captured on 30 January 1696 by William Kidd, who renamed it the Adventure Prize. Shortly before he was arrested for piracy, Kidd entrusted the ship to hired merchants, who sold off most of the goods, set fire to the ship, and absconded to Holland. The wreck was discovered in 2007 off the coast of Catalina Island.
A French ship that took part in the blockade against Cornwallis and thus was instrumental in the American Revolutionary War; sunk in a battle against the British fleet. Found and positively identified by Tracy Bowden. Recovered October 2009 by Deep Blue Marine Inc.
A brigantine found in 1872 in the Atlantic Ocean, unmanned and under full sail, heading towards the Strait of Gibraltar. It was later deliberately run aground and burned in an insurance fraud attempt, off the western coast of Port-au-Prince.
A lake tanker that was torpedoed by the German submarineU-156, and later towed into a dry dock and cut in three. The fore and aft sections were joined together, and the middle section was sunk as a target.
A passenger ship that was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in 1944, before construction on the ship was completed. It sank for the second time near St. George's, following an explosion.
A Spanish slave ship that was wrecked off East Caicos. The crew were arrested upon reaching land, and the 168 Africans took up residence at Grand Turk Island.
1 2 Marx, Robert F. (1985) [1979]. Spanish treasure in Florida waters: A billion dollar graveyard (Shipwrecks in Florida watersed.). Boston, MA: Mariners Press. p.146. ISBN0-913352-06-3. OCLC5172392.
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately three million shipwrecks worldwide as of January 1999, according to Angela Croome, a science writer and author who specialized in the history of underwater archaeology.
Mel Fisher was an American treasure hunter best known for finding the 1622 wreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha in Florida waters.
The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet, was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790, which linked Spain with its territories in the Americas across the Atlantic. The convoys were general purpose cargo fleets used for transporting a wide variety of items, including agricultural goods, lumber, various metal resources such as silver and gold, gems, pearls, spices, sugar, tobacco, silk, and other exotic goods from the overseas territories of the Spanish Empire to the Spanish mainland. Spanish goods such as oil, wine, textiles, books and tools were transported in the opposite direction.
This is a list of all known or suspected Atlantic hurricanes up to 1599. Although most storms likely went unrecorded, and many records have been lost, recollections of hurricane occurrences survive from some sufficiently populated coastal areas, and rarely, ships at sea that survived the tempests.
Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure. For example, treasure hunters try to find sunken shipwrecks and retrieve artifacts with market value. This industry is generally fueled by the market for antiquities.
Edward Lee Spence is a German-born American archaeologist. He is a specialist in the field of underwater archaeology.
George Fletcher Bass was an American archaeologist. An early practitioner of underwater archaeology, he co-directed the first expedition to entirely excavate an ancient shipwreck at Cape Gelidonya in 1960 and founded the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in 1972.
Robert F. Marx was an American pioneer in scuba diving, a prolific author, and was best known for his work as an avocational marine archaeologist. Over his career, he discovered over 5000 shipwrecks in over 60 countries. Although some accused him of treasure hunting, fellow avocational archeologist E. Lee Spence described Marx as the "true father of underwater archaeology". Marx also helped write UNESCO legislation regarding shipwrecks.
The Black Swan Project is the project name given by Odyssey Marine Exploration for its discovery and recovery of an estimated US$500 million worth of silver and gold coins from the ocean floor. Initially Odyssey kept the origin of the treasure confidential. It was later proved in trial that the recovered cargo was being carried by the Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, which was sunk by the British Royal Navy off Portugal in 1804.
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. is an American company engaged in deep-ocean exploration with a focus on the exploration, development and extraction of subsea mineral resources. Starting out as a shipwreck pioneer, Odyssey has discovered some of the most famous deep-ocean shipwrecks in history, including Ancona, Gairsoppa, Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, Republic, and HMS Victory. Their work has been featured on the Discovery Channel, PBS and National Geographic.
The Molasses Reef Shipwreck is the site of a ship which wrecked in the Turks and Caicos Islands early in the 16th century. It is the oldest wreck of a European ship in the Americas to have been scientifically excavated.
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