Shipwreck [Mass Market Paperback]

Dave Horner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 21, 2002

In 1654, Padre Diego Rivadeneira sets out for Spain from Peru in a small armada led by the immense galleon La Capitana, "Queen of the South Sea," carrying 10 million pesos in silver coin and bullion. Late one night, off the coast of Ecuador, the Capitana hits a reef and begins to sink. Three hundred years later, Dave Horner discovered Padre Rivadeneira's diary in the Archivo General de Indias, in Seville. In 1996 and 1997, Horner and his colleagues discovered and salvaged the much sought-after treasure of the Capitana. Among the artifacts recovered were gold, silver bars and coins, bronze cannon balls, pottery and various items of worked silver.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Some people dream of buried treasure. Some read about it with fascination. A rare few take a deep breath and jump in after it. Dave Horner does all three." - Charlottesville Weekly; "Recommended reading for maritime experts and the layman with an interest in history and the culture of the [17th century]." - Today's Librarian

About the Author

Author Dave Horner has written several books, including The Treasure Galleons, The Blockade Runners, and Shipwrecks, Skin Divers and Sunken Gold. He pioneered sport diving and charter trips to sunken ships in the mid-Atlantic U.S., and is president of Maritime Explorations International.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: I Books (May 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743444957
• ISBN-13: 978-0743444958
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,507,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The unluckiest Padre ever?, September 29, 2002

By 

A. J. Watson "Bones" (Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure (Hardcover)

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. ****

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well researched and historically informative work, October 24, 1999

By 

John de Bry (Melbourne Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure (Hardcover)

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.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well researched and historically informative work, October 25, 1999

By 

John de Bry (Melbourne Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure (Hardcover)

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