With Spain's colonization of the Caribbean islands and the discovery of wealth in Mexico and Peru, her jealous European rivals, France and England, began to venture into the Spanish overseas realm. As increasingly vast cargoes of gold and silver began to flow from the mines to the ships, and eventually into the coffers of Spain's creditors, predators lurked on both sides of the Atlantic to seize their share. Armed ships, sailing on solitary runs early in the 16th century, became prey to French and English corsairs and nimble privateers. To counter this threat, Spain devised a formal convoy system which became a successful pattern of maritime defense for more than three centuries.
At least three major fleet disasters -- in 1622, 1715, and 1733 -- resulted from hurricanes that caught convoys transiting the Straits of Florida, causing a great loss of life and severe financial consequences.


Two separate plate (from the word plata, for silver) fleets departing Spain for America each year normally sailed before the trade winds to a landfall in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean, where their routes diverged. The New Spain fleet, or flota, sailed on to the port of Veracruz in present-day Mexico, and the galeones of the Tierra Firme fleet sailed to Cartagena to load South American goods. With their cargos loaded, both fleets made their way to Havana, Cuba. When preparations for the return voyage to Spain were complete and the weather deemed favorable, the combined fleet set sail into the narrow Straits of Florida, pushed northward by the Gulf Stream. After the northern part of the Bahamas archipelago had been cleared, the course was altered to the northeast to Bermuda, then east to catch westerly trade winds which carried the ships towards Spain. At least two armed escorts -- a capitana, or flagship, sailing in the vanguard, and an almiranta, or vice-flagship, sailing in the rear -- accompanied merchant vessels across the ocean.

For the most part, this armed convoy system worked well against depredations of other nations, but the Spaniards were plagued by other, equally treacherous factors. Shoals and deadly weather proved costly to Spanish shipping. On either side of the Straits of Florida are reefs and sandbanks that are difficult to see, especially at night or in rough weather. Tropical hurricanes threaten the Caribbean between August and October, and between November and March a sudden intense pressure system, called "el norte", descends into the Gulf of Mexico. This combination of shoals and storms left the remains of countless vessels along the Florida coastline. Mid-16th century French designs to colonize the Florida peninsula prompted the Spanish Crown to fortify the eastern coast at St. Augustine to defend the mercantile lifeline and establish a refuge to shipwrecked mariners. Nonetheless, Spanish convoys continued to become casualties of coastal geography and weather. At least three major fleet disasters -- in 1622, 1715, and 1733 -- resulted from hurricanes that caught convoys transiting the Straits of Florida, causing a great loss of life and severe financial consequences. The Spanish settlement of Florida in the late 16th-century is directly tied to this immense transfer of wealth via the Plate Fleets and the perils associated with it.

Visitors can see the remains of the 1733 Plate Fleet in the 1733 Spanish Galleon Trail along the Florida Keys. Other Spanish shipwrecks that are accessible to the public are denoted by a [symbol] next to the site listing.