Nuestra Señora de Atocha

Cannon of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha in the Archivo General de Indias

The Nuestra Señora de Atocha is a shipwreck off the coast of Florida . In 1985 the treasure hunter Mel Fisher discovered the world's greatest treasure in this shipwreck . It has an (estimated) monetary value of 400 million US dollars.

The Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha belonged to the Spanish silver fleet , which ran regularly between Europe and Central and South America between the 16th and 18th centuries. On July 24, 1622, the fleet left Cartagena de Indias for Havana , where it arrived on August 24. There the ships were mainly loaded with gold and silver. On September 4th, the fleet with 28 ships left Havana for Spain. On September 5th, the convoy got caught in a hurricane that drove the ships towards Florida. The Nuestra Señora de Atocha was thrown onto a reef near the Florida Keys , struck a leak, drifted back into the open sea and sank on September 6, 1622. Only five people survived the accident, about 260 were killed.

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• Kathrin Meier-Rust: Portrait - Mel Fisher, treasure hunter. In: NZZ Folio . 1993, No. 1
• Chris McNab : The World's Greatest Disasters . Bassermann Verlag , Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8094-2088-0 , p. 114 ff .