Qualla: Capture of the Galleon San Joaquin

Capture of the Galleon San Joaquin: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The San Joaquin was a survivor. Three years earlier, in June 1708, her sister ship, the San Jose, had exploded and sunk during Wager's Action off the same Colombian coast, taking 600 crew and a king's ransom in gold, silver, and emeralds to the bottom of the Caribbean. The San Joaquin had barely escaped that disaster. In August 1711, off Cartagena de Indias, her luck ran out. Separated from her French escort by a storm and mistaking the approaching British squadron for friendly sails, the 64-gun treasure galleon found herself alone against five enemy warships. The engagement lasted less than twenty minutes.

Capture of the Galleon San Joaquin: Treasure Fleets and Desperate Escorts

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The War of the Spanish Succession had been grinding on for a decade by the summer of 1711, and Spain's treasury was bleeding. The treasure fleets that carried gold and silver from South America to fund the war effort had become prime targets for both the British and their Dutch a...

Capture of the Galleon San Joaquin: A Storm and a Fatal Mistake

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Waiting for them was British Commodore James Littleton, who had sailed from Port Royal, Jamaica, on July 26 with a squadron of warships, including vessels under captains Francis Hosier, Edward Vernon, and Richard Lestock, names that would echo through Caribbean naval history for ...

Capture of the Galleon San Joaquin: Twenty Minutes of Ruin

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

By the time Villanueva recognized his error, escape was impossible. Rather than strike his colors without a fight, the admiral chose to engage Littleton's entire squadron with his single galleon. It was brave and it was hopeless. The British ships closed rapidly, surrounding the ...

Capture of the Galleon San Joaquin: Ghosts on the Seafloor

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Du Casse learned of the San Joaquin's capture three days later. Knowing the treasure was lost, he departed Cartagena and sent his remaining ships first to Martinique, then to Pensacola, and finally to Spain, where they arrived safely but emptyhanded. King Philip V had ordered the...