A 1765 Spanish merchant shipwreck located off the coast of Tierra del Fuego

Monday, March 10th 2014 - 06:44 UTC

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Archeologist Martin Vazquez said it was just a supply ship, which had sailed from Montevideo

A team of archaeologists in Argentina has pinpointed the location of the 1765 shipwreck of a Spanish merchant ship off the southern coast, officials said over the weekend. It is the oldest wrecked ship of twelve that were identified along 200 kilometers of the windswept Tierra del Fuego coast.

The ship, “La Purisima Concepcion” went down January 10, 1765 off the Mitre peninsula --- about 3,500 kilometers south of Buenos Aires -- as it headed for the turbulent Cape Horn after sailing from Cadiz and stopping in Montevideo.

“It is not a galleon loaded with gold and pearls like in the movies; it's just a supply ship. But we have chosen not to disclose the exact location so as not to encourage anyone to go souvenir hunting,” said Martin Vazquez, the lead archaeologist on the team that found the ship.

He previously led Ushuaia End of the World Museum. It sponsored several expeditions since 2009 searching for these lost vessels, an area where extreme winds and snow are the order of the day most of the year.

Many of the 193 people on board the ship that wrecked survived and were able to build small boats with which they ultimately headed back to Buenos Aires.

Categories: Politics, Latin America.

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Littlechay
Where was the ship going please?

Peninsula Mitre is only about 2200 km from Buenos Aires; 3500km south would have the wreck in Margurite Bay in Antarctica.

The image of the ship is wrong as that is a large warship from Nelsonian times
Mar 10th, 2014 - 12:06 pm 0
knarfw
Just to really confuse things. http://3decks.pbworks.com/w/page/915060/HCMS%20Purisima%20Concepcion%20%281779%29
Mar 10th, 2014 - 01:08 pm 0
Briton
Apparently this could be another claim by CFK ,
After all its riches and other cargo are almost certainly Argentinian,
Just by its very nature of being Spanish,
Seeing as Argentina is the son of Spain ,lol.

Still,
The UN claims department opens at 09 00 am..

.
Mar 10th, 2014 - 02:35 pm 0

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