treasure ship. 1. A Chinese warship built during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Renowned for their
exploration by sea during the first half of the 15th century, they were large,
junk-rigged vessels with as many as nine masts, certainly larger than any western sailing vessel of that era. Commanded by the eunuch Cheng Ho, fleets of these ships undertook extensive voyages. The first one set sail in 1405 to find the emperor's nephew, who had fled the country, and to trade. The size and power of these treasure ships, and the riches they carried, so overawed the rulers of the places they visited that when the ships returned to China they were quickly followed by envoys eager to pay tribute to the emperor. The emperor's nephew was never found, but so much status and new knowledge had been gained that the emperor mounted six more voyages. The last sailed in 1431, but soon afterwards there was a change in policy and China lost interest in the maritime power it had built up.
Ordinary seagoing trading junks were up to 52 metres (170 ft) long, the biggest, according to the 13th-century explorer
Marco Polo, having a
draught of about 6 metres (20 ft). However, treasure ships were, according to what records remain, much larger. There has been much discussion about the size of these vessels (see,
inter alia, A. Sleeswyk , ‘The
Liao and Displacement of Ships of the Ming Navy’,
Mariner's Mirror, 82 (1996), 1: 3)
as the records are difficult to interpret. It has been thought that they almost certainly exaggerate their size as it is generally agreed that it is impossible to build a structurally safe seagoing ship of wood which exceeds 80 metres (260 ft) in length unless it is reinforced with iron or steel. However, the naval architect Colin Mudie has shown that it is quite possible that they were longer than this (see Figs. (a) and (b) overleaf).
The Chinese are intensely interested in the exploits of their treasure ships and are building a number of
replica ships to exhibit in various parts of the world, the first starting from Hong Kong in 2005. They have no engines but will be towed to 80 or so major coastal cities where they will be put on display.
2. The Spanish
carracks, and later
galleons, known as
register ships, which brought back treasure from Spanish colonies in Central and South America during the 16th–18th centuries. The silver, and later the gold, extracted from these colonies was carried up the western coast of South America in treasure ships to the port of Panama, or to Vera Cruz on Mexico's east coast. The treasure unloaded at Panama was taken by mule trains across the Isthmus, though some, particularly during the rainy season, was shipped down the Chagres River to the Caribbean. It was stored at Nombre de Dios and then loaded onto the fleet of ships which arrived every autumn from Spain carrying supplies and merchandise for the Spanish colonists. Unlike the swift
galizabra, these ships returned to Spain in heavily escorted
flotas. Treasure ships also sailed from Mexico to Manila carrying silver which was used mainly to purchase Chinese silk.
Treasure ships were always in danger from Elizabethan seamen such as
Drake,
Grenville, and
Hawkins, and they were constantly harried by the French and the Dutch, too. They were also the targets of
piracy. One, the
Santa María de la Consolación, was shipwrecked off Ecuador in 1681 when trying to escape from
Bartholomew Sharp, and its remains—and its treasure—were not finally located until 2003. Eleven treasure ships were sunk by a hurricane in 1715 off the eastern coast of Florida, close to Cape Canaveral, and all except one of another flota of 22 ships met the same fate on the
reefs of Florida Keys in 1733. Both sites have long been the focus of interest for treasure hunters after valuable
salvage and those working in
marine archaeology. See also
shipwrecks.
Bibliography
Broadwater, J. (ed.), Ships and Shipwrecks in the Americas: A History Based on Underwater Archaeology (1988).
Wagner, K. , Pieces of Eight: Recovering the Riches of a Lost Spanish Treasure Fleet (1976).
