Treasures of the galleon Concepcion, which killed Spanish greed

Spain, being a powerful colonial power, was largely dependent on the receipt of values from its overseas possessions. The looted treasures covered the country's military expenses, went to the construction of new sea vessels, and also ensured the comfortable existence of the Spanish royal court. Therefore, the collapse of the Concepcion galleon, which transported more than 100 tons of gold and jewelry, was a terrible loss for Spain.

The official name of the ill-fated galleon sounded like "Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion". It was a merchant ship, equipped with cannon weapons, which over the 20 years of its service repeatedly crossed the Atlantic. Like other galleons of the Spanish fleet, Concepcion delivered gold and jewelry stolen by the colonialists. The ship set sail on its last voyage in 1641, and the cause of its wreck was human greed.

During loading at the port of Veracruz, it turned out that there were much more chests of jewels than free space in the hold of the galleon. But since the loading of cargo for the needs of the Spanish state was led by the personal representative of King Philip IV, he did not want to hear anything about the fact that some of the gold would have to be left and sent on another ship. The treasury urgently needed funds to conduct another military campaign, so all the holds and the deck of the ship were filled with chests.

But before the galleon left the Caribbean and reached the Atlantic, the first serious storm caused the death of an incredibly overloaded ship. The shipwreck occurred near the island of Haiti, where the galleon first jumped onto the reefs, and then was sunk by another hurricane. Philip IV was furious, since the annual revenue from the Spanish colonies was on the galleon and its loss promised significant material difficulties. Despite the fact that parts of the crew, including the captain, managed to survive and tell about the tragedy, the search for the sunken treasure did not lead to anything. The Spanish treasury was left without money for some time, and the crash site of “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion” was sought by all adventure lovers who managed to get funds for the search.

But the team of Bert Webber was still lucky, and at the same time the Dominican Republic, which owned half of the treasures found. What the American got from the seabed is estimated at $ 14 million. But, according to archival data, this is not the whole load of the galleon. At least 90 tons of the ship's valuables are still located near the island of Haiti, covered with a thick layer of sand and masked by coral reefs.