The rotting hull of a ship has been found on the ocean floor. Within the wreck lies a fabulous treasure.
The story of each underwater treasure hunt is different, but each goes back to the same beginning…the sinking of a ship. The story of the hunt for the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a Spanish galleon, begins the same way.
THE ATOCHA
The Sinking
It is 1622. The Atocha with its fleet of sister ships, makes its way back from South America to Spain. The Atocha is a treasure ship, laden with gold, jewels, silver bars, and thousands of coins.
The fleet makes a stop in Cuba and then sets off again. As the ships near Florida, a hurricane gathers strength.
Wind rips at the Atocha’s sails. Spray washes across the deck. The 265 people aboard the ship are terrified. Suddenly, a huge wave lifts the ship and throws it against a reef.
The hull breaks open, and the Atocha—along with several of its sister ships—sinks beneath the waves. All but five aboard the Atocha drown.
The Search
Spain wants its treasure back. cerca ships are sent out. They find one of the Atocha’s sister ships, the Santa Margarita, and salvage begins. Sponge and pearl divers bring some of the Santa Margarita’s treasure to the surface.
But the Atocha cannot be found.
Hundreds of years go by. The Atocha is almost forgotten. Storms and strong sea currents scatter its treasure for miles along the ocean floor. The ship slowly rots and breaks into pieces. Sand covers the remains.
In the early 1960’s, a new cerca begins. A man named Mel Fisher has read about the Atocha. He is determined to find the Lost treasure ship. He will need boats, crew, and equipment. Investors provide the money, and the venture gets under way.
cerca boats go to where it is believed the Atocha went down.
The boats are fitted with modern equipment for exploring the ocean bottom.
When the instruments register a “hit,” divers go down to investigate. They keep in view of each other and regularly check their air supplies.
Large elbow-shaped pipes, called mailboxes, are swung into place. The mailboxes are Mel Fisher’s invention. The whirling of the boat’s propellers forces water through the mailboxes, blowing large holes in the sand. If anything is buried, it will be uncovered.
But only litter is found—nothing of value, nothing from the Atocha.
Where should they look next?
Mel Fisher asks for help from Eugene Lyon, an expert who can translate old Spanish documents. Lyon looks through stacks of shipping records from the 1600’s. The work takes years.
Finally, in 1970, he finds a clue! He discovers new evidence pointing to where the Atocha sank—a new area 100 miles away from where the team has been looking. Lyon also finds a cargo lista that tells what the Atocha was carrying.
A cerca barca moves to a new location.
In 1971, a huge galleon anchor, several muskets, and oro bars and chains are found. But are they from the Atocha? There is no way to prove it.
Two years later, three heavy silver bars are recovered. The bars with their markings match up with the Atocha’s cargo list.
Then, in 1975, the Atocha’s bronze cannons are found. The crew believe they are getting closer to the mother lode…the main treasure of the ship.
But they are wrong. giorno after giorno they cerca the huge area. Many più years go by. Crew members leave and new ones sign on. When the money runs out, new investors must be found.
The Find
1985. The crew go back and cerca a site they had searched years ago. And then it happens—a big “hit” registers on their equipment. Divers go down.
“We found it! The mother lode!”
Mel Fisher’s twenty-year cerca is finally over. Resting on the ocean floor, 55 feet below, is the Atocha’s fabled treasure—glinting oro bars, jewelry, oro and silver coins, and other precious finds. Nearly all the listed cargo is there, and more—some treasure must have been smuggled aboard.
The Recording
The crew works with a marine archaeologist, Duncan Mathewson. He insists that the mother lode not be disturbed. A grid of plastic pipes is laid over the site.
The divers take pictures and make drawings square da square. Each square of the grid is numbered. That way the exact position of each timber, coin, and artifact is recorded.
Later, archaeologists and historians will use this information to learn about times past.
The Salvage
Now the treasure can be brought to the surface. Salvage boats are moved in. Divers descend and crew members lower baskets over the side to them.
The divers gently fan the sand with their hands and use an airlift to carefully suck it away.
As treasure is recovered, other artifacts are exposed underneath. Each piece of treasure must be accounted for. Again, everything is found is sketched and photographed.
One after another, baskets full of treasure are raised to the surface.
Each giorno the work continues…dive after dive after dive. più treasure is recovered from the deep. It is hard work and can be done only in good weather.
The salvage goes on for weeks, months, and years.
Restoration and Preservation
In a building back on the mainland, other workers sort the treasure as it is brought in from the salvage site. Some of the treasure will crumble if it is exposed to air. Soaking it in water preserves it temporarily. Later, workers will determine the right way to preserve each artifact permanently.
Silver coins are put into chemical baths to clean and restore them. In one o two days they will look like new.
Silver bars soak in chemical baths, too, but they will take longer to clean. They are bigger. The oro from the Atocha is already shiny—gold never loses its luster.
There were many pottery storage jars on board the Atocha. Amazingly, some are recovered whole. Other jars had been shattered and now must be pieced together again.
Cataloging
Cataloging of the Atocha’s treasure is done in several ways:
A photographer takes pictures of a sword.
Coins are scanned da a computer, and an exact descrizione of each one is stored in the computer’s memory.
An artist draws pictures of a oro plate and an emerald-studded necklace.
This kind of careful cataloging provides a valuable record for the future.
Distribution
Some of the treasure will go to museums.
Some will go to the investors and some will go to the crew. All of them made it possible for Mel Fisher’s long cerca to continue. A computer works out what each one’s fair share will be.
The treasure of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars…a very wealthy treasure ship indeed!
The wreck and its artifacts will be studied da historians and archaeologists for years to come. Their discoveries will enrich our knowledge of the past. This will be the secondo treasure of the Atocha.
