Nuestra Señora de Atocha was a Spanish treasure galleon and the most widely known vessel of a fleet of ships that sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622. At the time of her sinking, Nuestra Señora de Atocha was heavily laden with copper, silver, gold, tobacco, gems, and indigo from Spanish ports at Cartagena and Porto Bello in New Granada and Havana, bound for Spain. The Nuestra Señora de Atocha was named for a holy shrine in Madrid, Spain. It was a heavily armed Spanish galleon that served as the almirante for the Spanish fleet. It would trail behind the other ships in the flota to prevent an attack from the rear.
Marine salvage is the process of recovering a ship and its cargo after a shipwreck or other maritime casualty. Salvage may encompass towing, re-floating a vessel, or effecting repairs to a ship. Today, protecting the coastal environment from spillage of oil or other contaminants is a high priority. Before the invention of radio, salvage services would be given to a stricken vessel by any ship that happened to be passing by. Nowadays, most salvage is carried out by specialist salvage firms with dedicated crew and equipment.
Treasure hunter 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. The practice of treasure-hunting can be controversial, as locations such as sunken wrecks or cultural sites may be protected by national or international law concerned with property ownership, marine salvage, sovereign or state vessels, commercial diving regulations, protection of cultural heritage and trade controls.
Royal Captain was a British East Indiaman launched in 1772 and lost in 1773 in the South China Sea. In 1999, an expedition discovered the wreck and salvaged some of her cargo.
Johanna was an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC), possibly named for the island of Anjouan, then known as Johanna. She made five voyages for the EIC between c. 1671 and 1681, On her sixth voyage she became the first Indiaman lost on the South African coast when she wrecked on 8 June 1682.
Hartwell was a 3-decker ship of the British East India Company (EIC) launched in 1787. On her maiden voyage she ran aground and sank off the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa.
Hindostan was an East Indiaman of the East India Company. She was a large vessel of 1,463 tons (bm), launched in 1796 to replace a previous Hindostan that the Royal Navy had bought and turned into a Fourth Rate ship of the line. Her owner was Robert Williams, M.P., who had been the owner of the previous Hindostan.
HMS Abergavenny was originally Earl of Abergavenny, an East Indiaman sailing for the British East India Company (EIC). As an East Indiaman she made two trips to China between 1790 and 1794. The Royal Navy bought her in 1795, converted her to a 56-gun fourth-rate ship of the line, and renamed her. One year later the East India Company built a new and much larger ship which was also named the Earl of Abergavenny and which sank off Weymouth Bay in 1805. HMS Abergavenny was sold for breaking in 1807.
Indefatigable was a square-rigged, three-decked, three-masted merchant ship launched in 1799 at Whitby for James Atty & Co. for the West Indies trade. In 1804 she served as an armed defense ship and recaptured a merchantman that a privateer had captured. She was a transport in the 1805–1806 British invasion of the Dutch Cape colony. She twice transported convicts to Australia; on the first trip she was chartered to the British East India Company (EIC). She burned to the waterline in 1815.
Charles Spalding was an Edinburgh confectioner and amateur engineer who made improvements to the diving bell. He died while diving to the wreck of the Belgioso in Dublin Bay using a diving bell of his own design.
A grab was a type of ship common on the Malabar Coast in the 18th and 19th centuries. The name derives from "ghurāb" or "ghorāb", Arabic for raven, which in turn came into Marathi and Konkani as "gurab". The ghurāb was originally a galley, but the type evolved.
The gallivat was a small, armed boat, with sails and oars, used on the Malabar Coast in the 18th and 19th centuries. The word may derive from Portuguese "galeota"; alternatively, it may derive from Maratha "gal hat" - ship. Hobson-Jobson has an extensive discussion of the origins of the term and its usage.
Nonsuch was launched at Calcutta in 1781 as the first large vessel built there. She was designed to serve as either a merchantman or a man-of-war. She spent the first 12 years of her career as a merchant vessel, carrying opium to China amongst other cargoes. After the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 her owner frequently hired her out as an armed ship to the British East India Company (EIC). She participated in an engagement with a French naval squadron and recaptured an East Indiaman. She also made two voyages for the EIC. After the Peace of Amiens in 1802 the EIC paid her off; as she was being hauled into a dockyard for repairs she was damaged and the decision was taken to break her up.
Albion was an East Indiaman of the British East India Company (EIC), launched in 1762. She made one complete voyage for the EIC before wrecking at the outset of her second voyage.
Asia was launched at Liverpool in 1798. She competed four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and wrecked on her fifth. During the second she transported EIC troops to Macao to augment the Portuguese forces there, but the authorities there refused them permission to land. She was wrecked in 1809 on the outbound leg of a voyage to Madras and Bengal.
Vansittart was launched in 1780 as an East Indiaman. She made three complete voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) and was wrecked in 1789 while outward bound on her way to China on her fourth journey.
Lord Forbes was launched at Chester in 1803 as a West Indiaman. She soon became an "armed defense ship", but by 1805 had returned to being a West Indiaman. She made two voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued trading with India until 1817 when she sustained damage on her way to Bengal. There she was surveyed, condemned and sold.
Tam O'Shanter was a sailing ship built in 1829 in North Hylton. In 1830 she sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). Next, she was a West Indiaman, sailing to Bermuda and Jamaica. She then played a role in the founding of Adelaide in 1836. Tam O'Shanter ran aground in 1837 off Tasmania and was considered a write-off.
The Santo Christo de Castello was a mid‐17th century Genoese merchant ship sailing from Amsterdam that was wrecked on its maiden near Mullion Cove, Cornwall, England in 1667. In the late 17th and 18th centuries various efforts were made to recover the silver it was said to have carried. It was then forgotten, but was rediscovered in 1969, and interesting artifacts have been recovered.
HCS Palinurus was a sloop or brig that the Bombay Dockyard launched in 1823 for the Bombay Marine, the naval arm of the British East India Company. She served as a pilot ship, survey vessel mapping the Red Sea and the coast of Yemen and Oman, and generally as a naval ship. She was still listed in 1862.
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