The Chris and Lori Show

The Chris and Lori Show

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The Holy Grail Of Shipwrecks Found And Worth Billions

Spanish treasure fleets, organized 70 years after Columbus’s first voyage, was made up of several specialized ships with one primary goal: Exploiting the riches of the New World as efficiently as possible.

The San José, the largest of one group of Spanish ships that started sailing in the 16th century, had 62 bronze cannons engraved with dolphins and was deadly enough to deter or destroy ships, whether pirates or rival nations.

Except when it didn’t.  On June 8, 1708, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the San José’s gunpowder ignited during a battle with British ships, sending 600 sailors to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean — along with gold, silver and emeralds from mines in Peru, a total haul valued at some $17 billion in today’s dollars.

It stands as one of the most expensive maritime losses in history.  And “this Holy Grail of shipwrecks” stayed underwater, undiscovered for more than 300 years. 

Finally a tiny submersible robot named Remus 6000 — packed with sensors and cameras and capable of diving four miles underwater — has discovered the centuries-old final resting place of the sunken ship.

The wreckage of the San José was discovered two years ago, but the location off the Colombian port town of Cartagena and other details have been closely kept secret.

New details were released Monday from the agencies involved in the search, including the Colombian military that ferried Remus 6000 to the search location.  There was a key distinguishing feature that made researchers realize what they had found.  The robot went down to just 30 feet above the wreck and snapped photos of those cannons we mentioned earlier.

Now, because of where the wreck is located -- Do the precious metals and emeralds at the bottom of the Atlantic belong to the people of Colombia or to the people of Spain?


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