Florida's Golden Galleons: The Search for the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet

by Robert Forrest Burgess, Carl J. Clausen

On July 24, 1715, a Spanish treasure fleet sailed from Havana, carrying a cargo of 14 million pesos in gold, silver and jewels. In the Florida Straits, near present-day Cape Canaveral, the fleet ran into a hurricane, with the disastrous loss of ten ships and 700 lives. Little was salvaged at the time. For more than two centuries, sand and sea held their secrets well. Occasionally, however, tides and storms tossed blackened silver coins up on the beaches, tempting would-be treasure hunters. Among the most successful was the Real Eight Company, contracted by the state of Florida to recover the valuable treasure and historical artifacts under the supervision of state underwater archaeologist Carl J. Clausen. Spurred by the unique finds on the ocean floor and curious about the full story behind the tragic event that had scattered this fabulous treasure along Florida's east coast, he and Robert F. Burgess determined to record the history of the ill-fated fleet. In writing their book, the authors needed the answers to hundreds of questions. What was it like to cross the Atlantic in the eighteenth century? What precautions were taken against pirates? What caused the delays that led to sailing at a particularly treacherous time of the year? What really happened the night of the hurricane? How much treasure was lost? How many people survived? The authors discovered that pieces of the historical jigsaw puzzle lay scattered all over the world. They examined hundreds of documents recovered from dusty official statements, depositions, royal court orders, private and public letters, and ships' manifests. After ten years of research, the authors finally had all the facts, which enabled them to reconstruct the story. Florida's Golden Galleons is that stunning story, meticulously detailed and excitingly told, of the sinking of the great fleet and of the successful modern-day efforts to bring its treasure once more to the light of day.

Genres: History

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Robert Forrest Burgess is an American author of non-fiction adventure books, as well as sport fishing and scuba diving magazine articles. His photographs illustrate his material.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was eye-opening! It tells the story behind the 1715 Spanish Fleet Shipwrecks that occurred off the “Treasure Coast” of Florida, which runs from Sebastian down to Fort Pierce. The book delves into the research and discovery of this treasure and the finds that treasure salvors made are astonishing. I recommend this book to those interested in shipwrecks and archaeology. It’s educational and fun and this book made me interested in visiting Vero Beach and the McLarty Treasure Museum!

[Josh Liller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Golden Galleons is two related stories told consecutively. The first half of the book the story of the 1715 Spanish "Plate Fleet" and the wrecking of its eleven ships in a hurricane, which gave the Treasure Coast its name. Spanish salvage efforts are also covered. The second half covers the early archaeological investigations in the 1940s and the treasure hunting of the late 1950s through much of the 1960s by Kip Wagner and Real Eight, which brought Mel Fisher to Florida (his claim to fame came on a later wreck in the Florida Keys). The book also addresses the treasure hunters' legal issues with the State of Florida. Co-author Carl Clausen has some first-hand experience in the events that adds to the story.

For a book originally published a half-century ago, this one has aged fairly well. The writing is decent, the research seems solid, the tone seems neutral, and there are good photos. Obviously, it only covers the famous work in the 1960s on a few of the wrecks, not any of the later treasure hunting.

I cannot compare it to Kip Wagner's Pieces of Eight or Tommy Gore's The Rainbow Chasers In The Great Florida Treasure Hunt, which I'm told are the two other main books on the 1715 wrecks, as I have not read those.

The edition I read was a hardcover library book and the binding was too tight, with some of the left margin almost lost in it. Hopefully this is not an issue with the softcover editions.

I'm not a treasure guy, but I found this to be interesting Florida history. It's obviously a must read for the people interested in shipwrecks and treasure.

P.S. Considering public interest in shipwrecks and treasure, the age of this book and the memoir nature of the other two works, and the advances in underwater archaeology, someone could probably put together a good 300ish-page modern book on this topic. (It's not going to be me.)