1715 Fleet Project:

The Admiralty arrests granting ownership to these wrecks was established decades ago and the rules and regulations predate the Abandoned Shipwreck Act (Public Law 100-298; 43 U.S.C. 2101-2106). This Act became law on April 28, 1988.

Both Mike Brown and Rob Westrick have a considerable amount of experience working the 1715 Fleet wreck sites and both have successfully recovered treasure from those sites in the past. While a fortune in sunken treasure has been recovered from those sites since their rediscovery in the 1960’s, recent finds have shown once again that much more treasure still lies beneath the sea and sand awaiting discovery.

These shipwrecks would be worked under a subcontract agreement with 1715 Fleet – Queen’s Jewels, LLC.



1733 Fleet – El Infante / HMS Fly Project:

Since 2002, Rob has maintained a permit with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) to conduct archaeological research on the El Infante.

The Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Balvaneda (alias El Infante), 60-guns, 990-tons, Captain Domingo de Sanz, owned by the King, carried 562,509 pesos in silver specie and bullion and 643 marcos in worked silver, plus large amounts of indigo, vanilla, and ceramic jars, jugs, and plates. The vessel was built in Genoa, Italy in 1724. The El Infante was approximately 140 feet long and displaces about 990 tons.

When discovered in 1956, the site contained a large ballast pile, at least seven cannons and a fifteen-foot anchor. Some structural data might still be recovered by careful examination. Structural material is still visible, possibly being large frames of oak. Some hull sheathing remains intact and visible. The ballast pile is scattered but still remains on the site. Although salvaged by the Spaniards, a substantial amount of treasure from the El Infante was left behind. Modern salvors have made valuable discoveries on the site. Among the most interesting and valuable finds that reportedly have been found on the site are dos mundos pillar dollars, dated 1732 and 1733.

The Infante has been extensively worked; however, we feel there is still much to be found especially shoreward. Gold coins, especially on the 1733 Fleet are exceedingly rare and quite valuable.

The H.M.S. Fly was a British sloop-of-war that ran aground and wrecked on the same reef as the El Infante in 1805. The Fly was escorting a convoy of eight merchant vessels at the time, and two of the merchant ships wrecked as well.

In September 2015, there was a magnetometer survey done of this site. The archival accounts and the magnetometer survey results agree with one another. There are actually two other historic shipwreck sites, in addition to the El Infante and the Fly located within our permit area.

We are excited to begin to investigate these anomalies, excited as to what the future holds and what mysteries may be unraveled.



1733 Fleet – San Fernando Project:

Merchant nao Nuestra Señora de los Reyes, San Fernando, y San Francisco de Paula, (alias San Fernando), 328-tons, Captain José Cabeza, owner Francisco de Soto y Posada, Genovese-built, carried 16,000 pesos in silver, 226 marcos of worked silver, 853 arrobas (an old Spanish unit of weight equal to approximately 25 lbs.) of refined cochineal, 315 arrobas of wild cochineal, 2,000 arrobas of vanilla, 1,011 arrobas of añil and five boxes of chocolate.

This is the one 1733 shipwreck that was never salvaged and has never been located. In the 1960’s, Jack Richards found three cannons and a small anchor. No ballast stones were encountered but a thorough search of the area may reveal the remains of this long sought after shipwreck.

Treasure hunters and researchers have been attempting to identify the San Fernando since the 1960’s. That being said, very little accurate information is available.

Researchers know, with a fair amount of certainty that the San Ignacio, San Fernando and Floridano met their fate in close proximity to one another. Archival records state that two of these vessels were torn apart and lost nearly their entire crews. The third, the San Fernando, ran aground and remained relatively intact.

Doug Gossage was originally part of Bob Weller’s “Search for the San Fernando Project” in 2002. Doug took over the permit following Bob’s death in 2008. Since then Doug has spent a considerable amount of time conducting a thorough magnetometer investigation of the area. He is reasonable confident that he has indeed found the wreck.

While the first two projects are my own projects (a 1715 Fleet subcontract and the 1733 Fleet El Infante/HMS Fly project) the search for the San Fernando is Doug’s project. However, if one wishes to come onboard the two other projects, they will have the first opportunity to be able to get in on the ground floor of the San Fernando project.