Bay of Cadiz Wreck Identified as Italian Ship Sunk by Francis Drake

CADIZ, SPAIN—El País reports that the so-called Delta II shipwreck uncovered during harbor infrastructure work in the Bay of Cadiz has now been identified as a vessel that sank during a famous 1587 raid by explorer and privateer Sir Francis Drake. The sixteenth-century wreck was recently determined to be the Genovese merchant ship San Giorgio e Sant’Elmo Buonaventura. It dates to a time when tensions between England and Spain were rapidly increasing, culminating in the defeat of the Spanish Armada off the English coast in 1588. A year prior to that, as the Spaniards were preparing their invasion, Drake caught the Spanish by surprise in Cadiz, sinking 30 to 35 ships belonging to them and their allies. The San Giorgio wreck remained well-preserved and almost completely intact beneath thick sediment layers for more than 400 years. While excavating the ship, archaeologists uncovered a number of artifacts, including the skull of a woman who likely died in the assault, earthenware jars containing olives, and a series of wooden barrels filled with cochineal, a red dye derived from a Mexican insect. In the sixteenth century, this dye arrived from Spanish territory in the New World, specifically from the Oaxaca region, and became the third most valuable commodity exported from the Americas in the early modern period. For more, go to "History's 10 Greatest Wrecks: Spanish Armada."