Echeverz' Capitana Location
PAGE 68.
LOCATION DATA ON ECHEVERZ' CAPITANA
1. In a document dated 17 July 1712 it states that Echeverz
Capitana was the Nuesta Senor del Carmen, San Miguel y San
Antonio which carried 72 cannon and it's keel was 72 codos long.
(Note, a codo was from 18 to 22 inches long, so the keel would
have been fr-am lOS' 911 to 133 feet long). In another- document
only dated 1713 his Capitana was listed as the Nuestra Senora del
Carmen, San Miguel y San Antonio with it's keel at 69 codos,
tonnage at 713 tons of cargo capacity. Her total guns given as
52. I'm sure this is the same ship as mentioned in 1712 and that
some of her cannon were taken off. She was built in England and
was probably the Hampton Court, captured by the French and then
sold to the Spanish.
Two English documents substantiate this fact: a letter
from Lord Hamilton of Jamaica dated 26 April 1715 "..By late
advises from the Havana I am told the Galleons (Echeverz Squadron
usually called the Galleons, but the English called all Spanish
fleets the Galleons) from Vera Cruz were daily expected there in
order to join two Spanish ships of war (to the English this would
mean big ships with plenty of guns), one of which is the Hampton
Court, who are said to have great treasure on board for Old
Spain .." The other English document states that the Hampton
Court when in the British Navy was 1072 tons, had a draft of
17' 3" and a beam of 40' 1", length of keel 125' 6" and the length
of gun deck 150' 6". These measurements correspond with those
taken of the ship in 1712 by the Spanish. As the English method
of computing tonnage was different from the Spanish, actually
about 25% higher, the tonnage is fairly accurate as well. The
dimensions of it's beam, draft and keel are similar to those of
the Spanish.
2. Declaration of Captain Mendez, St Augustine, 7 Aug 1715.
"...from all of the ships only victuals were recovered
from the Urca of Lima and the Capitana of Echeverz .."(Mendez
reported that he was the pilot of the ship Nuestra Senora del
Carmen, alias La Olandesa of Echeverz Squadron. Here we have a
problem. We know that the French Frigate captured near Cartagena
was named Nuestra Senora del Carmen and also called by other
aliases such as El Cierro, El Siervo, and Ciervo. Yet, Mendez
refers to the alias of this ship as La Olandesa, which means
Dutchman or the Dutch ship. Furthermore we know that nothing was
known at this early date of-
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2. (Continued)
what had happened to the French Prize. A real mystery here.
3. Salmon to Virrey de Mexico, Palmar de Ayz, 8 Aug 1715.
"...of the Galleons, the Capitana with Antonio de
Echeverz appears to have fared better than our ships, and they
may have recovered some victuals from this ship.."
4. Antonio de Echeverz to Mirallas, Real of Nuestra Senora de la
Popa, 24 August 1715.
Here we have a problem. He states that the letter was
sent from the Real of La Popa and in another letter of the same
date to Casa Torres he likewise states he is in the same Real.
He does not state that it was the Real of his own ship and we
know that the Dutch Prize was named Nuestra Senora de la Popa
alias La Galera. So this probably means he was at the site of
the wreck of the Dutch Prize, which means that it sank somewhere
near Echeverz own Capitana, as he certainly would not have
ventured too far from his own wreck. (He was living on the top
decks of La Popa, which was washed onto shore by the storm. - JH)
5. Salmon to the King, Palmar de Ayz in 27d 50m, 20 Sept 1715.
“...the Capitana of the Galleons of Echeverz Squadron
and the Almiranta ran aground at five leagues distance and all
the other ships were sunk not far away.."
(NOTE: This would put the "C" and "A" of Echeverz at about 27d
35m of latitude, which might be Rio Mar and Sandy Point sites.
This may be off as I have not dived on either of these sites, but
modern charts show a reefy area at Rio Mar and only sand areas at
Sandy Point. From Echeverz' letter above this would seem to
indicate that his "C” was lost at the Sandy Point site and his
"A" at Rio Mar. Lou has figured out the reverse to be true.)
PAGE 70.
LOCATION DATA ON ECHEVERZ' CAPITANA - THREE
6. Casa Torres to Salmon, Havana, 28 Sept 1715.
6. (Continued)
Orders Armenta to help Echeverz in the salvage of his
Capitana because of the Royal treasure it was carrying.
7. Casa Torres to Salmon, Havana, 10 Oct 1715.
Mentions he is sending more divers and wants some sent
to Echeverz Capitana to recover the King's treasure from it, and
a pearl of great value.
8. Vatican Document, Undated
"Of the six ships of Echeverz, 400 people drowned."
9. Duro, Armada Espanola, Vol VI, pp 121.
Although he mentions all of the other ships lost, he
does not mention Echeverz Capitana.
10. The ship carried a total of 52 cannon: 1st Deck, 8 iron
Spanish 18 pounders; 1st deck, 18 iron English 16 pounders; 2nd
deck, 26 iron Spanish 6 pounders.