First images of the Galeon San Jose

See the first original photos of the galleon San Jose. The San Jose was a galleon of the Spanish Empire, built in 1698. In 1706 the galleon San José sailed along with other boats for the Caribbean Sea and arrived in Cartagena de Indias after a month of sailing.

In 1708 the galleon San José, along with the San Joaquin and other ships of the Imperial Fleet sailed from Portobelo to Cartagena de Indias. In the San José ´ were loaded 11 million gold coins. The fleet was attacked by English ships and the galleon San José sank with its treasures in front of the peninsula of Barú (current Sea of Colombia).

The rescue of the treasure of the Galleon San José, from the premises of that law, is already causing controversy. It is Colombian heritage, according to President Santos, but the truth is that the ship departed from the Viceroyalty of Peru with goods from the Spanish Crown and was a ship of state. To the objections of the archaeologists who want the history to be studied and see in the scientific method the only possibility of rescuing all the information contained in this important wreck, the legal and moral objections are added to the probability that the ends Prefer to scientists and knowledge: that is the first of the uncomfortable truths that we have to raise. The question is, who will tell our history, that of Ibero-America, shared and for what purpose?

The truth is that Colombia has not offered any information to the Spanish government about the search or the project carried out in the Pearls Archipelago. It seems that the search has been carried out by teams led by the Colombian Navy and with the approval of the Ministry of Culture and the Heritage Institute there. But after this afternoon’s announcement there will be more data, no doubt, to assess the project and its scientific quality.

The San Jose has experienced great controversy and judicial problems for years. The American Company “Sea Search Armada” said to have found the same vessel in 1982, but nearly thirty years later-in 2011-lost a lawsuit in favor of Colombia for the rights on the treasures that could be found in the boat. The company claimed the sum of 17 billion dollars to the country.

After this litigation, the ship’s trail, which was now found by the Colombian Navy, seemed to be lost again. The galleon San José was loaded with treasures from Cartagena de las Indias, in Colombia, to Spain on June 7, 1708, under the command of Admiral José Fernández de Santillán. According to the investigations he carried a load of spices, fabrics, gold and silver.

When he was en route, he met the ship “the Expedition”, an English ship commanded by Charles Wager. Both began a naval battle, which made the galleon drowned. He has struggled for companies that are dedicated to the search for this type of treasures and the government of Colombia. Now, with the new law they could even be hired to carry out the ransom.