Spanish Ship Discovered in Pensacola

[Monterey Jack]

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Navy construction crews have unearthed a rare Spanish ship that was buried for centuries under sand on Pensacola's Naval Air Station, archaeologist confirmed Thursday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The vessel could date to the mid-1500s, when the first Spanish settlement in what is now the United States was founded here, the archaeologists said.

But the exposed portion looks more like ships from a later period because of its iron bolts, said Elizabeth Benchley, director of the Archaeology Institute at the University of West Florida.

"There are Spanish shipwrecks in Pensacola Bay," Benchley said. "We have worked on two — one from 1559 and another from 1705. But no one has found one buried on land. This was quite a surprise to everybody."

Construction crews came upon the ship this month while rebuilding the base's swim rescue school, destroyed during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

The exposed keel of the ship juts upward from the sandy bottom of the pit and gives some guess of the vessel's form. Archaeologists estimated the rest of the ship is buried by about 75 feet of sand.

During initial work to determine the ship's origin, archaeologists found ceramic tiles, ropes and pieces of olive jars. The settlement was founded in 1559; its exact location is a mystery. The Spanish did not return until more than a century later in 1698 at Presidio Santa Maria de Galve, now the naval station.

The French captured and burned the settlement in 1719 but handed Pensacola back to Spain three years later. Hurricanes forced the Spanish to repeatedly rebuild.

The Navy plans to enclose the uncovered portion of the ship, mark the site and move construction over to accommodate archaeological work, officials said.

"We don't have plans to excavate the entire ship," Benchley said. "It's going to be very expensive because it's so deeply buried and we would have to have grant money," she said.

[William Brand]

No plans to excavate?

I don't know if the pirate in me or the historian in me is more upset by that phrase.

[blackjohn]

Well... consider what Ivor Noel Hume said recently about the state of affairs (in this case Virginia)

"One of the really sad things is that the state has no archaeology museum," he says. "There's a vast quantity of stuff. The funding is for doing the digging, but there is no funding for the work that the digging generates.

"Interest in history is declining," he laments. "Attendance at museums is declining."

It rankles him that the public can no longer see Martin's Hundred, nor the museum that was built there to interpret the site. CW closed Carter's Grove to the public in 2003, citing financial reasons, and the foundation said this January that it hasn't decided when or if it would reopen.

I imagine it's the same all over. So maybe it's best left covered for a future generation to excavate.

[William Brand]

Well... consider what Ivor Noel Hume said recently about the state of affairs (in this case Virginia)

"One of the really sad things is that the state has no archaeology museum," he says. "There's a vast quantity of stuff. The funding is for doing the digging, but there is no funding for the work that the digging generates.

"Interest in history is declining," he laments. "Attendance at museums is declining."

It rankles him that the public can no longer see Martin's Hundred, nor the museum that was built there to interpret the site. CW closed Carter's Grove to the public in 2003, citing financial reasons, and the foundation said this January that it hasn't decided when or if it would reopen.

I imagine it's the same all over. So maybe it's best left covered for a future generation to excavate.

Would that we all lived in one place and could gather the relics under one museum for the benefit of all enthusiasts.

My guts knotted up when I learned the Pelican sank and no one salvaged her before the river destroyed her. Just sick to my stomach. I would have salvaged her myself an had the means to do it, but I learned too late of it.

[Rumba Rue]

I'm with William on this one- no excavation?

My God, the whole ship could be there and intact! What an incredible discovery!

Somebody get some money to dig that thing out!

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Disgusting ain't it. Our govt. is already providing funds to rebuild that damned mosque that the sunni's blew up in Iraq, (and it will probably be completed before New Orleans is even begun!), but there's none for such valuable treasure as this. When and what needs to happen before enough of us take the Declaration of Independence to heart and throw this pig-pucky govt. off and do our duty? I'm ready but I won't go alone... sorry, I'm a fighter, not a martyr.

Capt. Bo

[Monterey Jack]

Hell, just leak news that Bin Laden is hiding under it; that'll get it outta there.

[LadyBarbossa]

Hear, hear, Captain Bo!

Yer not alone in the qualms, but not entirely with the Government, but more so with our own People! Bloody damn fools out there who don't give a damn!

PETITION! Email your government Officials about this story. Only then will the Congress take action. If people REALLY have interest in the vessel, want it bad enough, then they will think twice about things. We as Americans have LOST our Rights, we have become too wussy! Whimpering and whining about things, and not taking action! Dare we REALLY let the Law get in our way? If the Law is NOT in benefit for the People then that Law is not to be in place!

We want that ship, by damn... LET'S GET IT!

[Story]

Another period wreck -

Wreck is declared protected site

Maev Kennedy

Saturday October 7, 2006

The Guardian

The wreck of a ship which went down with a princess's dowry, a prize so rich that 500 years ago survivors and Cornish fishermen fought on the beach over salvage rights, has been declared a protected site by the government to save it from modern treasure hunters.

In 1527, the St Anthony, owned by King John of Portugal, sank off Gunwalloe Cove in Cornwall. The cargo manifest still survives, showing huge quantities of copper and silver ingots, believed to be part of the dowry of Princess Katherine, sister of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was to marry King John. At the time the cargo was valued at more than £18,000.

The site was discovered by divers in 1981, and designated a protected wreck. However, a survey last year suggested that the position of the wreck has been shifting, so that part now lies outside the original site.

The new order, made by culture minister David Lammy, will cover the entire current position of the wreck and its contents. Mr Lammy said: "Shipwrecks from this era are extremely rare, and are wonderful examples of our - and the world's - maritime heritage."

[Black Syren]

I agree to ecavate the ship. Maybe intrests in museums are decling but history is history and should be preserved for all of us to view and learn from! These items should be protected not lost to the sea.

[Silkie McDonough]

First visual arts. Then the humanities. Now history?

I admit I am NO history buff. I had very little interest in history as a youngster, however it has been the opportunity to experience these places and things from history that have peaked my interest as an adult.

Let's excavate!

That having been said I would like to point out that the Benchley said:

""We don't have plans to excavate the entire ship. It's going to be very expensive because it's so deeply buried and we would have to have grant money,"

It did not say that they were not going after grant money. So don't lose hope.

[JohnnyTarr]

I have been on that base and been to the SAR school there. Man I wish that I was back to see this.

[Brit.Privateer]

It was suggested earlier that we should contact our Congressmen on this. How would we go about this? My first thought would be to obtain a published article about this issue. Where is the original article on this? Second, I live in Wisconsin, how would my sending a letter to him help?

[Story]

* One year later...*

Shipwreck Sheds Light on Florida's Past

By GARRY MITCHELL,

AP

Posted: 2007-10-11 23:39:21

Filed Under: Science News

PENSACOLA, Fla. (Oct. 11) - In 1559, a hurricane plunged as many as seven Spanish sailing vessels to the bottom of Pensacola Bay, hampering explorer Don Tristan de Luna's attempt to colonize this section of the Florida Panhandle.

Almost 500 years later and 15 years after the first ship was found, another has been discovered, helping archaeologists unlock secrets to Florida's Spanish past. The colony at the site of present-day Pensacola was abandoned in 1561, and no trace of it has been found on land.

Teams of University of West Florida archaeology students last summer discovered what they thought was the shipwreck, picking up pieces of artifacts from the site. A 32-by-24-foot barge now covers the site to give divers access.

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning joined divers Thursday for a close look at the shipwreck, partially buried in sand about 12 feet below the water surface. It was "incredible" to touch something that has been submerged for centuries, Browning said.

"It was in good condition. As far as pieces of pottery, you could feel the bowls," he said.

The discovery is "another piece of the puzzle" of Florida's Spanish ancestry, Browning said, adding that he does not expect the ship to be removed from the water.

About 650 artifacts, mostly pieces of pottery and wood, were on display Thursday for about 100 people, among them members of the public, who gathered on land about a half mile from the shipwreck.

"It's an amazing site," said Gregory D. Cook, a University of West Florida nautical archaeologist.

Test excavations suggest about 60 to 66 feet of preserved hull from a small to medium-size vessel, he said.

The ship would likely have been built a few years before 1559, said Dr. Roger C. Smith, the state's underwater archaeologist.

The first de Luna ship was found in 1992 in the same area, near what de Luna founded as Florida's initial European settlement. Researchers believe as many as five other vessels were lost in the hurricane Sept. 19, 1559. The search for the others continues.

"These sites are unique doorways into Florida's past," Smith said.

They also give archaeology students an unusual opportunity for research.

Siska Williams of Atlanta, a West Florida graduate student in archaeology, said she has made about 100 dives at the site. In one, divers recovered seeds and rat skeletons, she said.

The ship apparently held food stocks and other supplies for the colonization campaign, a carefully planned expedition financed by the Spanish crown.

After the storm, only three ships were still afloat, including two small barks and the expedition's only caravel.

No human remains were found at the site, Williams said: "Most of the crew had gone ashore because of the hurricane."