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Spanish galleon San José

Coordinates: 9°35′00″N 76°15′25″W / 9.5833°N 76.2569°W / 9.5833; -76.2569
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other ships with the same name, see Spanish ship San José.

San José (centre-left) exploding during Wager's Action
History
Spain
NameSan José
BuilderPedro Arostegui (contractor), Mapil (Usurbil)[1]
Laid down1697
Launched1698[2]
FateSunk during the Battle of Barú (Wager's Action), 8 June 1708. 9°35′00″N 76°15′25″W / 9.5833°N 76.2569°W / 9.5833; -76.2569
General characteristics
TypeGalleon
Tons burthen1,051 tons[2]
Length71.00 codos (of 418 mm) lower deck length; 60.18 codos (of 418 mm) keel length[a]
Beam21.91 codos
Draught11.75 codos estimated
Depth of hold10 codos
PropulsionSails
Armament
  • 64 guns:[1]
  • Lower gundeck: 26 × 18-pounders
  • Middle gundeck: 26 × 10-pounders
  • Quarterdeck and Forecastle: 12 × 6-pounders

San José was a 64-gun galleon of the Spanish Navy, commissioned by the Spanish Crown and built in the Basque Country of Spain. Launched in 1698,[1] she served as a flagship of the Spanish treasure fleet during the War of the Spanish Succession and sank in battle off Barú Island, near Cartagena, Colombia, on 8 June 1708. The sinking killed nearly all of the approximately 600 Spanish sailors and officers serving aboard under orders of the Spanish Crown, making the wreck both a significant underwater cultural heritage site and a war grave of the Spanish state.[1] The ship's cargo of gold, silver and emeralds is estimated to be worth about US$17 billion as of 2023.[3]

The sunken Spanish warship was located at a depth of 600 metres[4] in November 2015. Its discovery triggered an international ownership dispute, with Spain asserting sovereign rights over the vessel as a commissioned warship of the Spanish Navy, and Colombia claiming it as submerged national patrimony under domestic legislation. Colombia has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) or the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, both of which support the principle that sunken state vessels retain the sovereign immunity of their flag state.[5] Additional claims include salvage company Sea Search Armada and indigenous groups from Bolivia.[6]

Since July 2017, a joint scientific operation lead by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, the Colombian Navy, and the General Maritime Directorate of Colombia is being conducted to explore and study the site of the shipwreck and retrieve its contents for a future museum to be established in the city of Cartagena, Colombia.[7][8]

Career

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San José was designed by Francisco Antonio Garrote and built by Pedro de Aróstegui at the shipyard in Mapil, Usurbil, Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. Construction started in 1697 and ended in 1698. The shipyard built twin ships simultaneously for the Spanish Crown, naming them San José and San Joaquín.[1]

San José and San Joaquín were part of the Spanish treasure fleet during the War of the Spanish Succession, under General José Fernández de Santillán, the Count of Casa Alegre. The fleet was tasked with transporting precious metals and gemstones from Spain's American territories to the Iberian Peninsula to finance the Spanish Crown's war effort.[1]

On its final voyage, San José sailed as the flagship of a treasure fleet composed of three Spanish warships and 14 merchant vessels sailing from Portobelo, Panama, to Cartagena, Colombia. The Spanish vessels carried gold, silver, emeralds and jewelry collected from the Viceroyalty of Peru, including silver and gold mined at Potosí in present-day Bolivia.[9] On 8 June 1708, the fleet encountered a British squadron near Barú, leading to a battle known as Wager's Action. During the battle, the powder magazines of San José detonated, destroying and sinking the Spanish warship along with the gold, silver, emeralds and jewelry intended for the Spanish king's treasury.[1] Of the approximately 600 Spanish sailors and officers serving aboard under orders of the Spanish Crown, only 11 survived. The remaining crew perished in the service of Spain, and their remains are believed to lie with the wreck.[1]

Search and discovery

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Macuquinas, manually minted silver coins from the 16th to 18th century

The wreck of the Spanish galleon San José is estimated to be worth billions of dollars.[3][10] This is based on the speculation that, similar to its surviving Spanish sister ship, San Joaquín, it had 11 million pesos in coins on board at the time of its sinking, worth up to $17 billion as of 2023.[10] The silver and gold are from the mines of Potosí, Bolivia.[9] The enormous value of the cargo destined for the Spanish Crown has led to San José being called the "Holy Grail of Shipwrecks".[10]

A group of investors from the United States called Glocca Mora Co., operating under the name 'Sea Search Armada' (SSA) – spearheaded by noted historian Dr. Eugene Lyon, best known for having located and positively identified La Nuestra Senora de la Atocha and others – claimed to have found the Spanish shipwreck off the coast of Colombia in 1981. Colombia says the ship was not at the claimed coordinates, refused to sign a 65%/35% share offer, and refused SSA permission to conduct full salvage operations at the wreck site.[6][10][11] The Colombian parliament then passed a law giving the state the right to all of the treasure, leaving SSA with a 5% finder's fee, which was to be taxed at 45%. SSA sued Colombia in Colombian courts in 1989.[10] In July 2007, the Supreme Court of Colombia concluded that any treasure recovered would be split equally between the Colombian government and the explorers. Sea Search Armada subsequently sued in United States courts, but the case was dismissed twice, in 2011 and 2015 on technical grounds, and a Colombian court declared the galleon the property of the Colombian state.[10][9][12]

On 27 November 2015, the Spanish galleon San José was found in a different place by the Colombian Navy, announced by then President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos on 5 December.[12][13][14][15][16] The discovery was made using a REMUS 6000 autonomous underwater vehicle.[17] From the dive photographs, marine archaeologists[18] identified the Spanish vessel by her bronze guns, cast in Spain with distinctive dolphin motifs. Colombia claimed the Spanish galleon as part of its submerged patrimony, a position Spain immediately disputed, asserting its sovereign rights over the warship. The government of Colombia classified the location of the Spanish galleon as a state secret,[19] effectively preventing Spain and other claimants from independently verifying the site or participating in its examination.

In 2022, Sea Search Armada filed suit at the Permanent Court of Arbitration reasserting its rights to the treasure, claiming that the supposed later Colombian discovery in a new, secret location, was actually in the same location discovered by SSA, and was merely a ruse to invalidate previous claims.[20]

In June 2025, a study published in the journal Antiquity confirmed the identity of the wreck through analysis of 300-year-old coins minted at the Lima Mint in 1707, consistent with a Spanish vessel navigating the Tierra Firme route in the early 18th century.[21][22]

Conservation and recovery

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Logo of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH)

The conservation and recovery of the Spanish galleon San José and its contents has been a subject of international concern, particularly given Spain's position that as the flag state of a sovereign warship, it should be consulted and its consent obtained before any intervention on the wreck. The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001) provides that the flag state of a sunken warship must be notified and consulted regarding any activities directed at the vessel, and that the flag state's rights — including sovereign immunity — must be respected.[5]

The Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH), a government agency under the Ministry of Culture, has overseen archaeological activities at the site of the Spanish shipwreck. The director of the ICANH, Ernesto Montenegro, stated that soil and sea depth studies were being carried out to examine extraction methods for the Spanish ship's contents.[23] Then Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos announced plans to construct a museum in Cartagena to host contents recovered from the Spanish galleon,[24] without publicly addressing Spain's claim as the vessel's flag state or seeking bilateral agreement.

On 16 December 2015, the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia requested that the State keep thorough archives of the exploration, to be given to the Ministry of Culture. The Inspector General also requested that a representative sample of the coins, ingots, and gemstones, not classified as cultural patrimony due to repetition, be given to the Banco de la República for preservation.[25]

First phase

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In February 2024, Colombia announced plans to begin recovering artefacts from the wreck of the shipwreck.[26] In May 2024, the first stage of an underwater research project began using robotic vehicles to survey the site of the shipwreck.[27]

Second phase

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In November 2025, Colombian authorities announced the first physical recovery of artefacts from the Spanish warship. Colombian President Gustavo Petro was present for the inspection of the items recovered from the Spanish vessel.[28][29]

The recovered items from the exploratory phase included:

3 macuquina coins of gold and copper
2 whole porcelain cups from the Qing dynasty era
2 porcelain fragments
1 bronze cannon
1 fragment of rope associated with the cannon
Sediment fragments of metal and wood from the bronze cannon

The recovered items are currently being preserved and studied at the Underwater Cultural Heritage Laboratory of the Caribbean Oceanographic and Hydrographic Research Center, located in Cartagena, and at the National Museum of Colombia in Bogotá.[30]

Ownership dispute

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The Government of Colombia considers the dispute to be settled with the National Agency for the Legal Defense of the State claiming that the legal security of the San José Galleon is complete as the shipwreck is part of Colombia's national heritage. Nevertheless, other parties, including the Kingdom of Spain, have previously publicized claims with the later having proposed joint management of the shipwreck site.[31][32]

Colombia

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Per Colombian constitutional law, more specifically under articles 63 and 72, archaeological patrimony is inalienable, imprescriptible and unseizable, and that the nation's cultural heritage is under the protection and ownership of the State. Based on the aforementioned constitutional articles, article 2 of law 1675 (2013), established that underwater cultural heritage is part of the archaeological heritage and is therefore property of the Nation.[33]

In 2019, under the Iván Duque administration, the Galleon San José was declared as a cultural asset of the Nation which prevented any salvaging efforts to be paid for with part of its cargo.[34] Furthermore, in 2024 under the Gustavo Petro administration, the site of San José shipwreck was declared a protected archaeological area that counts with an underwater archaeological management plan.[35]

Indigenous communities

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The indigenous Qhara Qhara people of Bolivia have also asserted a claim to the treasure aboard the Spanish galleon, arguing that the gold and silver were extracted through the forced labour of their ancestors at the Cerro Rico mines of Potosí. They have called upon Spain and UNESCO to declare the galleon's cargo as shared heritage.[36][5]

Sea Search Armada

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Sea Search Armada (SSA), a United States-based salvage company, claims to have first located the wreck of the Spanish galleon in 1981 and has pursued legal action against Colombia for decades (see above). In 2022, SSA filed a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, seeking approximately US$10 billion in compensation.[37]

Spain

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Spain maintains that San José was a commissioned warship of the Spanish Navy, crewed by Spanish sailors serving under orders of the Spanish Crown, carrying cargo belonging to the Spanish state, and that it therefore remains sovereign property of Spain regardless of its current location. Spain's position is grounded in the principle, widely recognised in international law, that sunken state vessels retain their sovereign immunity. This principle is supported by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which provides that warships and other government vessels operated for non-commercial purposes enjoy sovereign immunity.[5] Colombia is not a party to UNCLOS.[5]

Spain has previously invoked the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001), which establishes that state vessels sunk while in service should not be commercially exploited and that the flag state retains preferential rights, including the right to be consulted before any activities are directed at the vessel. Spain has requested UNESCO involvement in the matter.[5] Colombia has not ratified this convention either.[5] The Spanish government has additionally emphasised the significance of the wreck as a site where nearly 600 Spanish sailors lost their lives in the service of the Spanish Crown, giving the vessel both cultural and memorial importance to Spain as a war grave.

In May 2019, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in which it welcomed Colombia's commitment to the preservation of underwater cultural heritage for the benefit of humanity and its renunciation of any form of commercial exploitation of the San José.[38]

In February 2024, the Spanish ambassador to Colombia publicly expressed Spain's willingness to pursue a bilateral agreement and conduct joint investigations on the wreck.[39]

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The discovery of the galleon San José inspired Colombian writer Marco T. Robayo to create a historical graphic novel, A la caza del Galeón San José: el naufragio, published by Planeta Colombia in 2022.[40] The sinking is mentioned in Gabriel García Márquez's 1985 novel Love in the Time of Cholera.

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ A 'codo común' (=418 mm) was similar to a cubit in Castile.
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Gómez, Santiago (14 March 2006). "El Galeón San José y la batalla de Barú". Todo A Babor. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b Phillips, Carla Rahn (2007). The Treasure of the San José: Death at Sea in the War of the Spanish Succession. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. OCLC 70877945.
  3. ^ a b "The battle for Colombia's sunken treasure". The Economist. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  4. ^ "A shipwreck worth billions off the coast of Cartagena". www.bbc.com. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "The chaotic legal battle for the 'holy grail of shipwrecks'". Diplomatic Courier. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  6. ^ a b "The fight for a legendary shipwreck's treasure : Planet Money". NPR. 7 February 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  7. ^ "El Galeón San José". Ministry of Culture of Colombia. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  8. ^ "Piezas del Galeón San José permanecerán en Cartagena". City of Cartagena. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  9. ^ a b c Martinez, Michael; Prifti, Alba (5 December 2015). "Colombia says it found Spanish galleon; U.S. firm claims half of treasure". CNN News. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Spilman, Rick (29 February 2012). "Galleon San Jose, the 'Holy Grail of Ship Wrecks'". The Old Salt Blog. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  11. ^ Drye, William (18 December 2015). "Battle Begins Over World's Richest Shipwreck". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Spanish galleon with rumoured £1bn treasure hoard found, says Colombia's president". The Guardian. Reuters. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  13. ^ Henderson, Emma (5 December 2015). "San Jose galleon shipwreck with £1 billion treasure found off Colombia, says President Juan Manuel Santos". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  14. ^ "Colombia treasure-laden San Jose galleon 'is found'". BBC News. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  15. ^ Jenkins, Lin (6 December 2015). "Spanish galleon may contain biggest treasure haul ever found on seabed". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  16. ^ Drye, William (9 December 2015). "Treasure on Sunken Spanish Galleon Could Be Biggest Ever". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 12 December 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  17. ^ Presidency of Colombia: Hallazgo del Galeón San José – 5 de diciembre de 2015 on YouTube
  18. ^ "found off the coast of Cartagena de Indias San Jose, a Spanish galleon sunk in 1708". The Spanish. 5 December 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016.
  19. ^ "'Holy grail' of shipwrecks found off Colombia". CBS News. Associated Press. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  20. ^ "Sea Search-Armada, LLC (USA) v. The Republic of Colombia".
  21. ^ Vargas Ariza, Daniela; et al. (10 June 2025). "The cobs in the archaeological context of the San José Galleon shipwreck". Antiquity. 99 (407) e47: 1–6. doi:10.15184/aqy.2025.10095.
  22. ^ Longmire, Becca (11 June 2025). "Discovery of 300-Year-Old Coins May Prove $17 Billion 'Richest Wreck in History' Has Been Found". People.
  23. ^ "Cartagena tendrá museo para preservar piezas del galeón San José: Santos". El País (in Spanish). Cali, Colombia. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  24. ^ "Construirán museo para exhibir restos de Galeón San José". Portafolio.co (in Spanish). Reuters. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  25. ^ "Procuraduría General de la Nación reitera aspectos que debe tener en cuenta el Estado colombiano para la administración de riquezas como las del Galeón San José". Office of the Inspector General of Colombia. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  26. ^ "Colombia to start recovering bounty from 18th-century shipwreck". ABC News (Australia). 24 February 2024.
  27. ^ Smith, Cachella (26 May 2024). "Colombia begins exploring 'holy grail of shipwrecks'". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  28. ^ "Colombian scientists recover first treasures from 'holy grail of shipwrecks'". The Guardian. London. 21 November 2025. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  29. ^ "Cannon and Other Artifacts Are Recovered From San José Shipwreck". The New York Times. 24 December 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  30. ^ "Los objetos arqueológicos recolectados del área del galeón San José entraron en proceso de conservación". Comisión Colombiana del Oceano. Bogotá. 24 November 2025. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  31. ^ "Piezas del Galeón San José permanecerán en Cartagena". City of Cartagena. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  32. ^ "Galeón San José". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  33. ^ "Patrimonio cultural sumergido en Colombia: el galeón San José". Revista Ensayos sobre Estrategia Marítima. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  34. ^ "Galeón San José se trataría como patrimonio compartido por Colombia y España". Portafolio. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  35. ^ "Zona donde está el galeón San José fue declarada como área arqueológica protegida". Portafolio. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  36. ^ Taylor, Luke (29 March 2024). "Bolivian Indigenous groups assert claim to treasure of 'holy grail of shipwrecks'". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  37. ^ "Sea Search-Armada, LLC (USA) v. The Republic of Colombia".
  38. ^ "Galeón San José". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  39. ^ "Colombia and Spain diplomatic dispute over the San Jose Galleon". Colombia One. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  40. ^ "Las dos obras históricas con las que Marco Robayo llegará a la Filbo". El País (in Spanish). Cali, Colombia. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.

Further reading

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