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Photo courtesy of the
Florida Division of Historical Resources.
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This stout cargo ship, named after her owner Miguel de Lima, was part of a combined Spanish plate fleet en route from Havana to Spain in the summer of 1715 when a hurricane struck, dashing ten of the eleven vessels onto the east coast of Florida. Victuals from her stores kept survivors alive for 31 days until rescuers came. Burned to the waterline to hide her from English freebooters, she was discovered in 1928 by a hard-hat diver, who raised as many as sixteen cannons and four anchors from the wrecksite. The first of the fabled 1715 fleet wrecks to be located in modern times, Urca de Lima also became the first of Florida’s Underwater Archaeological Preserves in 1987. Her remains lie in 10-15 feet of water on the first offshore reef 200 yards off the Ft. Pierce beach at 27° 30.18’N and 80° 17.90’W. Mooring buoys provide access to the site for visitors who want to discover this Spanish galleon for themselves.
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