Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure

Rating:
Summary: A well researched and historically informative work
Review: A well researched and historically informative work about two 17th-century Spanish treasure galleons, their tragic history and fate, and the story of the modern-day treasure hunters who found and salvaged them. Dave Horner did an excellent job in researching the background history of the two vessels in Spanish archival repositories, and writes passionately yet objectively about the men who lived and died on the high seas in their futile attempts to bring New World riches back to Spain. Horner also writes extensively on the modern-day saga of the finding and salvage of the two wrecks. The story told is one of intrigues, greed and deceit. Tragic as it may seem to some, one cannot help but smile as the events surrounding the search and discovery of the Jesús María de la Limpia Concepción, a.k.a. la Capitana, unfold. Set in Virginia, Florida and Ecuador, there are no clear winners, and Horner aptly entitles one of his chapters "Treasure is Trouble", something befitting the 17th-century Spaniards who met a tragic fate on the waters of Ecuador and the Bahamas,as well as the modern-day treasure hunters whose greed has brought them nothing but "trouble". A lesson to be learned... again.

Rating:
Summary: The unluckiest Padre ever?
Review: Immaculate research and superb translations from Spanish archive material turn this into both a scholarly research vehicle and a concise history of the Spanish colonies and the Treasure Fleets.
A good part of the narrative is in the words of a Spanish Padre sent out to Chile to minister to the colonists; this tells us first-hand of the vast mountains of silver that were being exported from South America, and of the nepotism, greed, dishonesty and cowardice that seems to be the product of any get-rich-quick scheme - and Spain had more than its fair share in the 16th & 17th Centuries. The rest of the story is supported by quotes from sailors and court officials, while Mr.Horner fleshes out the story with historical facts and some surmise - the many notes are detailed as appendix and are not intrusive, while there is other useful information contained in other appendices.

Our Padre seems unusually unlucky in being shipwrecked twice, and on the way home the fleet is ambushed in sight of Cadiz and he, along with two ships and 4 million pesos (38 cartloads!) are captured in a brilliantly described battle that Hornblower would be proud of.

However, he lives to tell the tale; his memoirs are so detailed that we have a better idea of the actual wealth contained in the treasure fleet than the manifests admit - also the position of the wrecks is so well decribed that Mr.Horner was able to locate the sites and recover valuable artifacts (and of course, silver).

As a bonus, we are treated to a superb description of the daringly successful 1657 British attack on the treasure fleet holed-up in Santa Cruz, in which the whole Spanish fleet was destroyed, with the loss of no ships and only 60 men on the British side. This effectively crippled Spanish hopes of sea-rule and bankrupted Seville.

The final chapter warns us of the perils of dealing with the red-tape and gung-ho journalism that inevitably accompanies any salvage, not to mention the thievery when there is treasure involved.

A very worthwhile read. ****

Rating:
Summary: Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure
Review: Mr Horner does a good job of describing the attempts of a Spanish monk to get back to his homeland and the ememy attacks that he is forced to endure on his voyage. The descriptions that he gives of his modern day salvage adventures is also very interesting. A good read.

Rating:
Summary: A well researched and historically informative work
Review: Set in Virginia, Florida, Ecuador and the Bahamas, there are no clear winners in this story, and Horner aptly entitles one of his chapters "Treasure is Trouble", something befitting the 17th-century Spaniards who met a tragic fate on the waters of Ecuador and the Bahamas, as well as the modern-day treasure hunters whose greed has brought them nothing but "trouble". The exception remains Dave Horner whose goal was clearly the quest for historical truth and the dissemination of valuable historical and archaeological data, something he achieved with eloquence. A captivating book and a lesson to be learned... again

Rating:
Summary: Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure
Review: Set in Virginia, Florida, Ecuador and the Bahamas, there are no clear winners in this story, and Horner aptly entitles one of his chapters "Treasure is Trouble", something befitting the 17th-century Spaniards who met a tragic fate on the waters of Ecuador and the Bahamas, as well as the modern-day treasure hunters whose greed has brought them nothing but "trouble". The exception remains Dave Horner whose goal was clearly the quest for historical truth and the dissemination of valuable historical and archaeological data, something he achieved with eloquence. A captivating book and a lesson to be learned... again