Scientists pull up riches from the ‘Holy Grail of shipwrecks’

Valuable shipwrecked treasures are seeing the light of day after they sank along with the San José galleon off the coast of Colombia more than 300 years ago. The incredibly well-preserved items that were retrieved, including a cannon, a porcelain cup and three coins, are just a taste of the wreck's vast riches. The galleon is often dubbed 'the Holy Grail of shipwrecks' as it went down with a huge cargo of 180 tonnes of gold, silver and gems that was said to be worth around £13.5 billion ($18.2 billion) in 2018. The recovery is part of an ongoing project by the Colombian government to investigate the wreck and recover the precious artefacts. The recovery of the objects “opens the possibility for citizens to approach, through material testimony, the history of the San José galleon,” said Alhena Caicedo Fernández of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History.

- WORDS JAMES PRICE

The San José was a 62-gun Spanish galleon that in June 1708 was leading a treasure fleet of 18 ships from South America to Europe when it was attacked by British warships. The galleon sank during the ensuing battle - though researchers dispute whether or not it exploded - killing the ship's 600 crew and passengers. Researchers finally located the wreck in 2015, south of Cartagena and about 600 metres below the surface. Its discovery prompted a number of parties, including the Colombian government, Spain, a US company and the In