The galleon San Diego.
1990-1994
1990-1994: Location and excavation of the San Diego, a Spanish galleon sunk on 14 December 1600 off Fortune Island, the Philippines.
October 1600, Manila. Faced with the threatening approach of Dutch ships commanded by Olivier de Noort, the Spanish command of the archipelago hastily equipped three ships to oppose them. Although no warships were available, a merchant galleon, the San Diego, was armed to act as the flagship. Without taking the time to unload its initial cargo, an army of nearly 450 people boarded; cannons taken from the city’s fortress were also taken on board. The ship’s manoeuvrability was now extremely limited. The vice-governor of Manila, Antonio de Morga, an irreproachable civil servant with no leadership skills, was appointed admiral.
At the decisive moment of the collision, Antonio de Morga, prostrate with anguish, was unable to give a coherent order. The San Diego sank in front of the stunned Dutch, who took advantage of this to leave the Philippines. Saved from the wreck along with a handful of men, the admiral hastened to present the battle in a more flattering light. Olivier de Noort’s account of the battle and the testimony of the survivors were quite different. The mass of Spanish archives took on the task of burying the statements of the shipwrecked and only kept the official version. Meticulous archival work brought them out of the shadows and made it possible to define the likely area of the disaster.
With this discovery in hand, in 1991 Franck Goddio led a survey mission off the coast of Fortune Island in the Kaimiloa, a 21-metre catamaran designed for archaeological research at sea. It was equipped with nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometers developed by the French Atomic Energy Commission and divers systematically checked all anomalies recorded by this specialist equipment. On 21 April, a diver spotted a tumulus at a depth of 52 metres, from which a cannon barrel bearing the inscription ‘Phelipus Rex 1593’ emerged, but it was only in the following year, that excavation could begin. It required significant logistics. At sea, on site, a specially chartered tugboat served as a work platform for the many underwater archaeologists and scientists. On land, at the National Museum of the Philippines, a team monitored the details of the operations.
Two excavation campaigns were necessary to bring to light 5,262 objects, which were cleaned, inventoried, photographed, restored and packaged in Manila and Paris. After lifting the cargo and removing tons of ballast stones, the ribs of the galleon from the bow to the stern were revealed. The rudder is almost intact, most of the joints are preserved, and even traces of carpenters’ tools are visible. This hull bottom makes it possible to draw up a plan and suggest the elevation of this galleon that was built locally, probably five to ten years before it was wrecked. The cargo list of 12 July 1601 listed fourteen cannons on board. They were all found and brought to the surface. Nearly eight hundred jars, some of them of capable of holding three hundred and fifty litres, from South-East Asia made up the bulk of the cargo. The vast majority of them bear workshop marks, potter’s signatures and ownership numbers.
These jars, along with coins, silverware, jewellery, weapons and navigation instruments, provide information on the daily life of the crew, which included a hundred Spaniards, nobles, officers, soldiers, craftsmen and sailors, as well as indigenous people and Japanese mercenaries. It is clear that the command had some twelve hundred blue-and-white porcelain wares of exceptional quality on board; most came from Jingderzhen in Jiangxi and marks a privileged moment before industrial standardisation. It also appears that the expatriate Spanish aristocrats surrounded themselves with precious Venetian silver and glassware, which they almost certainly took with them.
Ultimately, the wreck of the San Diego offers both a snapshot of life on board a galleon and a glimpse of the types of goods involved in long-distance trade in the early 17th century. Requisitioned and modified in its internal fittings to chase the Dutch out of the Philippines, this merchant ship had previously travelled extensively along the intra-Asian trade routes and those of New Spain via the Pacific. Its sinking ushered in a period in which the Dutch launched expeditions to seize the Philippines. Considered one of the most beautiful wrecks discovered to date, the San Diego is now a key source for the study of Iberian shipbuilding of this period.
Mission Report: National Museum of the Philippines.
Publications:
Le San Diego un trésor sous la mer
Treasures of the San Diego
El San Diego un tesoro bajo el mar
Die Schätze der San Diego
Piezas arqueologicas de la nao San Diego en Museo Naval de Madrid
At the decisive moment of the collision, Antonio de Morga, prostrate with anguish, was unable to give a coherent order. The San Diego sank in front of the stunned Dutch, who took advantage of this to leave the Philippines. Saved from the wreck along with a handful of men, the admiral hastened to present the battle in a more flattering light. Olivier de Noort’s account of the battle and the testimony of the survivors were quite different. The mass of Spanish archives took on the task of burying the statements of the shipwrecked and only kept the official version. Meticulous archival work brought them out of the shadows and made it possible to define the likely area of the disaster.
With this discovery in hand, in 1991 Franck Goddio led a survey mission off the coast of Fortune Island in the Kaimiloa, a 21-metre catamaran designed for archaeological research at sea. It was equipped with nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometers developed by the French Atomic Energy Commission and divers systematically checked all anomalies recorded by this specialist equipment. On 21 April, a diver spotted a tumulus at a depth of 52 metres, from which a cannon barrel bearing the inscription ‘Phelipus Rex 1593’ emerged, but it was only in the following year, that excavation could begin. It required significant logistics. At sea, on site, a specially chartered tugboat served as a work platform for the many underwater archaeologists and scientists. On land, at the National Museum of the Philippines, a team monitored the details of the operations.
Two excavation campaigns were necessary to bring to light 5,262 objects, which were cleaned, inventoried, photographed, restored and packaged in Manila and Paris. After lifting the cargo and removing tons of ballast stones, the ribs of the galleon from the bow to the stern were revealed. The rudder is almost intact, most of the joints are preserved, and even traces of carpenters’ tools are visible. This hull bottom makes it possible to draw up a plan and suggest the elevation of this galleon that was built locally, probably five to ten years before it was wrecked. The cargo list of 12 July 1601 listed fourteen cannons on board. They were all found and brought to the surface. Nearly eight hundred jars, some of them of capable of holding three hundred and fifty litres, from South-East Asia made up the bulk of the cargo. The vast majority of them bear workshop marks, potter’s signatures and ownership numbers.
These jars, along with coins, silverware, jewellery, weapons and navigation instruments, provide information on the daily life of the crew, which included a hundred Spaniards, nobles, officers, soldiers, craftsmen and sailors, as well as indigenous people and Japanese mercenaries. It is clear that the command had some twelve hundred blue-and-white porcelain wares of exceptional quality on board; most came from Jingderzhen in Jiangxi and marks a privileged moment before industrial standardisation. It also appears that the expatriate Spanish aristocrats surrounded themselves with precious Venetian silver and glassware, which they almost certainly took with them.
Ultimately, the wreck of the San Diego offers both a snapshot of life on board a galleon and a glimpse of the types of goods involved in long-distance trade in the early 17th century. Requisitioned and modified in its internal fittings to chase the Dutch out of the Philippines, this merchant ship had previously travelled extensively along the intra-Asian trade routes and those of New Spain via the Pacific. Its sinking ushered in a period in which the Dutch launched expeditions to seize the Philippines. Considered one of the most beautiful wrecks discovered to date, the San Diego is now a key source for the study of Iberian shipbuilding of this period.
Mission Report: National Museum of the Philippines.
Publications:
Le San Diego un trésor sous la mer
Treasures of the San Diego
El San Diego un tesoro bajo el mar
Die Schätze der San Diego
Piezas arqueologicas de la nao San Diego en Museo Naval de Madrid