Girona 1588
Marker: recorded wreck position (Age of Sail).
Key facts
| Name | Girona | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1588 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Age of Sail | derived from year |
| Ship type | ship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Foundered | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | Spain | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Spanish Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | Inner Seas | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Northern Ireland | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 8 km from land |
| Position | 55.2462, -6.5043 | Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0) |
About the wreck
La Girona was a galleass of the 1588 Spanish Armada that foundered and sank off Lacada Point, County Antrim, on the night of 26 October 1588, after making its way eastward along the north coast of Ulster. The wreck is noteworthy for the great loss of life that resulted and the treasures recovered in the 20th century, now part of the collection of the Ulster Museum.
Diving & visiting
Between 1967 and April 1968, off the coast of Portballintrae (Port-na-Spaniagh Bay), a team consisting of local diver and historian John MacLennan, alongside a team of Belgian divers (including Robert Sténuit, the world's first aquanaut) located the remains of the wreck and brought up the greatest find of Spanish Armada treasure salvaged up until that time. The underwater site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 22 April 1993.
"Treasures from the Girona".
Gold and silver coins, jewelry, armaments, and utilitarian objects from the Spanish galleass, Girona, are on permanent display at the Ulster Museum (part of the National Museums of Northern Ireland) in Stranmillis in Belfast. Replicas of the treasures were loaned by the museum and featured in the BBC series The Great Egg Race episode "The Treasure Map" in 1986.
Location
- Recorded position: 55.2462, -6.5043 (Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Inner Seas
- Nearest coast: Northern Ireland
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Girona (ship) (revision 1356295211), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Salvage”, “Ulster Museum Exhibit, Belfast”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- U-1014 1945 · 15 km
- HMS Papua 16 km
- U-680 1945 · 17 km
- HMS Drake 19 km
- U-968 1945 · 19 km
- U-245 1945 · 20 km
Browse more: UK & Ireland wrecks · wrecks off Northern Ireland · Inner Seas · Age of Sail