San José (ship)
The San José was a Spanish galleon weighing 1,066 tons. It was part of the silver fleet that continuously brought silver and other treasures to Spain from the South American colonies.
history
The galleon was built in 1696 in the Mapil shipyard in Usúrbil . She had three decks and was armed with 44 iron cannons. Gravel stones served as ballast. Later the armament was significantly increased to over 60 cannons.
On March 10, 1706, the San José left the Spanish port of Cádiz for the New World. Also on board was the Marqués de Castelldosrius, the new viceroy of Peru , and the Archbishop of Santa Fe . On April 27, the San José reached the Bahía de Cartagena de Indias in what is now Colombia without incident . The ship stayed there until January 5, 1708 as part of a fleet for Portobelo , Panama , where she arrived on February 10. Here she was loaded with 344 tons of gold and silver coins and 116 boxes with emeralds from Peru and left Portobelo on May 28 for Cartagena . The silver fleet consisted of 14 commercial sailors and three galleons. In addition to the San José with the captain of the fleet, these were the sister and admiral ship San Joaquín and the Santa Cruz , which only had 44 cannons.
16 nautical miles (around 30 kilometers) from the port of Cartagena there was a sea battle with four British warships under the command of Charles Wagers on June 8, 1708 . Since 1701, Spain has been at war with Great Britain as part of the War of the Spanish Succession . British warships tried again and again to capture the Spanish silver fleets. During the nearly ten-hour battle of Barú ( English Wager’s Action ), the San José was set on fire and sank after an explosion in its powder chamber. 578 sailors, soldiers and passengers were killed, only eleven survivors were later rescued.
The wreck
 
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Location of the place where the wreck was found near Cartagena, Colombia |
The current value of this cargo is estimated at up to several billion euros . This enormous value fueled the search for the wreck. A private search company signed a contract with the Colombian state in 1979 which, if successful, guaranteed it a share of the fund. In 1981 the company announced that the area in which the galleon was located had been located. However, this has not been confirmed by Colombia. The group was later taken over by the American investor consortium Sea Search Armada , which sued the state of Colombia for alleged breach of contract for billions of dollars in damages. However, after years of legal battles, a US court ruled in 2011 that the galleon belonged to Colombia.
At the beginning of December 2015, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced that a team of international experts from the National Archaeological Institute and the Navy had found the wreck on November 27, 2015 with the help of sound location near the Barú peninsula (not far from the Islas del Rosario ) off Cartagena and without any doubt identified. A museum is now to be built in Cartagena to display the treasure after it has been recovered. Archaeologists protest against the fact that some of the finds should be sold.
The value of the wreck is estimated at US $ 3–17 billion in 2017 (€ 2.67–15.15 billion). Who owns the ship is controversial: According to a UNESCO convention on the protection of goods on the seabed, the country of origin, i.e. Spain. But Colombia has not signed this convention. In June 2017, the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the imminent rescue, a state-private alliance had planned the rescue in the months before.
Web links
- Historia del Galeón San José (1696–1708) (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Presidencia de la República Colombia: Historia del Galeón San José (1696–1708) (Spanish) , accessed December 9, 2015.
- ↑ Galleon "San José" found off Colombia - Detected after 307 years. In: Tagesschau.de . June 12, 2015, archived from the original on December 8, 2015 ; Retrieved December 8, 2015 .
- ↑ BBC.com: Colombia says treasure-laden San Jose galleon found , December 5, 2015 , accessed December 8, 2015.
- ↑ Spiegel.de: Shipwreck San José: The billion-dollar treasure off Colombia has been found , December 5, 2015 , accessed on December 8, 2015.
- ↑ San José Galleon: subject of science, not commerce Espeio de Navegantes, December 5, 2015. - Spanish.
- ↑ Billions in the Caribbean to be raised orf.at, June 13, 2017, accessed June 14, 2017.
Coordinates: 9 ° 35 ′ 0 ″ N , 76 ° 15 ′ 25 ″ W.