The very next day a massive hurricane swept through the Straits of Florida and devastated the hapless fleet. Eight vessels were driven aimlessly by the storm until they wrecked on the reefs of the Florida Keys. The ill-fated flota had been scattered from the Dry Tortugas to the Marquesas Keys, and the three treasure-bearing galleons mentioned above were lost along with five smaller vessels.

Three of these eight ships wrecked in or near the Dry Tortugas. One was a Portuguese 117 ton nao and slave ship Nuestra Señora de Los Reyes, lost somewhere near East Key. Rosario grounded on "the last key of the Tortugas" near Loggerhead Reef. Another ship lost was a small patache (small support and reconnaissance ship) which wrecked "on an island to the east of the Rosario." Additionally, another patache was lost in the Tortugas a few weeks later when a storm struck a small Spanish fleet salvaging the sunken flota.

Three hundred and fifty years later, the National Park Service under George Fischer (now an FSU professor) led an expedition to the Fort Jefferson National Monument in the Dry Tortugas, an island cluster about 75 miles west of Key West. This April 1969 survey focused on what were determined to be high priority areas for shipwrecks, mainly around Loggerhead Key and other islands in the Dry Tortugas. The Park Service next conducted a magnetometer survey in 1971 over portions of Long Key Reef, Loggerhead Reef, and other selected Park areas. During this season, a shipwreck site was discovered with artifacts such as Spanish ladrillos (tile-like bricks), ship's fittings, ballast rocks, and other cultural material that suggested a large 17th century Spanish ship. The archaeologists were fairly sure they had found the scattered remains of the galleon Nuestra Señora del Rosario.

In 1981 the shipwreck was investigated by a joint Florida State University and Southeast Archeological Center (National Park Service) team. The possible Rosario site, designated FOJE-UW-9, was re-located. During visual survey, a related site called FOJE -UW-17 was discovered. It was located less than 250 meters away from the main galleon scatter and also had numerous Spanish artifacts visible on the surface. The most prominent feature of this second site was a group of six wrought iron versos or swivel guns (small anti-personnel cannons mounted on a swivel yoke on the side of the ship). An intensive and controlled surface collection was conducted over both sites, recovering 30 artifacts. Typical items recovered included Middle Period Spanish Olive Ja r fragments and fire-brick ladrillos. In addition, one of the swivel-guns was raised.

In 1982 a more intensive three-week expedition was launched by Florida State University and the Southeast Archaeological Center. The project was designed to make a thorough assessment of the two sites, determine the relationship between the two, and to better define the nature, extent, and identities of the two sites. An expansive grid area of 170 by 140 meters was set up to delineate the wreck scatter of the possible Rosario. Then a smaller 100 by 50 meter was set up over the main area of artifacts.

Divers physically surveyed the entire 170 by 140 meter area and charted the distribution of artifacts, mainly ladrillo fire-bricks, "egg rock" ballast stone, concreted iron remains, and at least two visible iron anchors. Then 1 by 1 meter test units were excavated across the area of main cultural deposit. In the time allowed, 27 test units were excavated with a 3" dredge randomly in the 100 by 50 meter grid. Diagnostic artifacts were collected and transported back to Tallahassee, still immersed in saltwater, for conservation and analysis. These collected and provenienced artifacts included wood remains, fasteners, ladrillos, glass fragments, ballast stones, a buckle, unidentified brass fragments, and whiteware and olive jar ceramic sherds.

In addition, two separate 225 meter transects were run between the Rosario wreck scatter and the Swivel Gun Nest. Teams of scuba divers surveyed the 10 meter wide transects, noting any artifacts visible on the surface and their locations. Artifacts noted along the survey area included bronze and iron fasteners, unknown iron concretions, small concentrations of ballast stone, a chain plate, Spanish olive jar sherds, and a burnt wooden spar.

Unfortunately, no conclusive evidence was found to identify the site with 100% certainty as Nuestra Señora del Rosario. The site is in the general area where the Rosario sunk, the artifacts observed and recovered suggest a 17th Spanish vessel, and the 200' by 400' scatter of artifacts suggest a large ship. The Rosario, at 600 tons, was the only large 17th century ship to wreck in the Dry Tortugas according to the known documents.

The Swivel Gun Nest site, UW-17, remains a mystery as well. Due to a 100 meter stretch with no visible artifacts between the two sites, it is believed that the Swivel Gun site may be a separate, smaller shipwreck. It therefore could represent one of the smaller flota ships that sank, or even the patache that was sent to salvage the Rosario less than a month after the hurricane.

"CLICK ON THE SWIVEL GUN IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER PICTURE"

• Click here to see a map of the Dry Tortugas
• History of the Spanish Treasure Fleet System

FOR FURTHER READING:

Johnson, Richard

1982 Underwater Archaeological Investigations at FOJE-UW-9 Conducted in Summer, 1982 at Fort Jefferson National Monument, Dry Tortugas, Florida. Report on file at the Southeastern Archaeological Center, National Park Service, Tallahassee, Florida.

Lyon, Eugene

1979 The Search For the Atocha. Florida Classics Library, Port Salerno.

Marx, Robert F.

1968 The Treasure Fleets of the Spanish Main. World Publishing Co., New York.

Murphy, Larry E. (editor)

1993 Dry Tortugas National Park Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment. Submerged Cultural Resources Unit, National Park Service, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Skowronek, Russell

1982 Seventeenth Century Spanish Colonial Shipping in the Dry Tortugas: An Archaeological, Geographical, and Historical Overview. Manuscript on file at the Academic Diving Program, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.

Smith, Roger

1988 Treasure Ships of the Spanish Main: The Iberian-American Maritime Empires. In Bass, George (ed.) Ships and Shipwrecks of the Americas: A History Based on Underwater Archaeology. Thames and Hudson, Inc., New York. Pp 33-44.

Walton, Timothy R.