URCA DE LIMA (shipwreck) National Register of Historic Places Listing

In the summer of 1715, a monstrous hurricane smashed Spain's silver fleet against the Florida coast. Eleven ships broke apart. The Urca de Lima was one of them, though she didn't carry chests of glittering gold. Instead, this flat-bottomed Dutch-built store ship hauled humbler cargo. Think cowhides, chocolate, sassafras, and vanilla. She grounded on a sandbar off modern-day Fort Pierce, preserving her hull while the waves battered her sister ships to toothpicks. Spanish salvagers quickly arrived from Havana. They stripped her, piled her remaining goods on the beach, and then burned her to the waterline. Why To hide her from roving English pirates like Henry Jennings, who were already combing the coast for easy plunder.

People forgot the wreck for two centuries. Then, in 1928, salvagers relocated the ballast pile under twenty feet of water. Modern treasure hunters descended, ripping up the site with prop-wash deflectors in the 1960s to find any missed silver wedges. It was a mess. But the ship's real value lies in what remained. Today, her wooden ribs and ballast stones sit just two hundred yards off Jack Island Park. They form a vibrant artificial reef. Florida designated the site its first Underwater Archaeological Preserve in 1987, which eventually secured its spot on the National Register. Now, snorkelers can swim right to the bare bones of the Spanish Empire's trade network. No boat required. Just a mask, some fins, and a short kick from the beach.