Nuestra Señora de Atocha 1622
Marker: recorded wreck position (Age of Sail).
Key facts
| Name | Nuestra Señora de Atocha | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1622 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Age of Sail | derived from year |
| Ship type | galleon | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Storm or weather | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | Spain | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | Spanish Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | Gulf of Mexico | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 103 km from land |
| Position | 24.5314, -82.8306 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Nuestra Señora de Atocha ('Our Lady of 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 (present-day Colombia and Panama, respectively) and Havana, bound for Spain. The Nuestra Señora de Atocha was named for the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Atocha in Madrid, Spain. It was a heavily armed Spanish galleon that served as the almirante (rear guard) for the Spanish fleet. It would trail behind the other ships in the flotilla to prevent an attack from the rear.
Much of the wreck of Nuestra Señora de Atocha was famously recovered by an American commercial treasure hunting expedition in 1985. Following a lengthy court battle against the State of Florida, the finders were ultimately awarded sole ownership of the rights to the treasure.
Location
- Recorded position: 24.5314, -82.8306 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Gulf of Mexico
- Nearest coast: United States
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 Nuestra Señora de Atocha (revision 1379763230), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; 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
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Gulf of Mexico · Age of Sail