Site Report

WoSASPIN 688
NM55NW 4 c. 509 550

One of the galleons of the Spanish Armada, the Florencia, sheltered in Tobermory Bay in Oct 1588. According to documents in the possession of the Duke of Argyll, in whom is vested the ownership of the wreck, she carried pay chests of the Spanish army which was to have invaded England. On the point of departure from the bay, the ship was damaged by an explosion and sank 300 yds off what is now the New Pier. Attempts to salvage the treasure have been made from time to time, though Sacheverell, Governor of the Isle of Man is reported to have recovered much of the lost bullion on the first salvage expedition in 1688.
P A Macnab 1970

The New Pier is at NM 507 553. No further information.
Visited by OS (D W R) 29 April 1974.

Considerable doubt surrounds the identification of this ship as the Florencia; the only ship of this name in the Armada was a galleon which sailed in the Levantine flotilla and is known to have returned successfully to Spain. Displayed in the National Maritime Museum exhibition of 1988 there was a swivel-gun dated 1563, recovered in 1905 from Tobermory Bay and attributed to the San Juan de Sicilia. This latter ship is not named specifically among the known ships of the Armada but may be one of the several that are named only as San Juan.
M J Rodriguez-Salado 1988.

Martin identifies this wreck as the San Juan de Sicilia and notes that a salvor (Archibald Miller of Greenock) worked upon it in the late 17th century. Miller stated that 'There is no deck upon her except in ye hinder part... in the fore part of the ship lie many great ballast stones and some shot amongst them'. Martin comments that the heap of ballst was probably concentrated forward to counter balance the downthrust of a large sterncastle.
C L Martin 1973.
One of the Spanish ships arrived at Tobermorey in late September or early October 1588 to renew her sails which had been reduced to tatters as a result of the battle and the weather. The local landowner, McLean of Duart, promised them assistence in return for their help with his rival McDonald of Islay. This resulted in series of raids on McDonald's properties in Canna, Rhum, Eigg, Muck and Ardnamurchan in which many MacDonalds were murdered.
In November 1588 the vessel was still anchored in the bay when it exploded leaving only 50 or 60 Spaniards alive. There is no doubt that the gunpowder ignited by accident or other means.
From that day there have been dozens of salvage attempts. Records are scant but the first serious attempts seem to have been made by Archibald Miller between 1680 and 1683. He reports seeing anchors, plates and one 'great gun' which he describes in some detail as well as a number of smaller ones. They were brought to the surface. The next serious salvage attempt was Captain Jacob Rowe between 1729 and 1731 but, although he cleared a lot of wreckage in the stern section he found nothing of value. Others include James Gush of Greenock and later his son, plus Commander Crabb in 1950.
For many years the name of the vessel was thought to be ADMIRALTA DE FLORENCIA, but the latest evidence is more or less conclusive and indicates that the ship was the SANTA MARIA DE GRACIA Y SAN JUAN BAUTISTA - a 800 ton ship built in Ragusa (Dubrovnik) commanded by Don Diego Tellez Henriquez.
Moir and Crawford 1994.