El Nuevo Constante
Merchant Ship · Spain · Lost 1766 · The Gulf of Mexico
A Spanish merchant ship driven ashore by an 18th-century hurricane off Cameron Parish, rediscovered in 1979 when a shrimper's net snagged copper ingots.
C. M. Leonick
The Vessel and Her Loss
El Nuevo Constante was a Spanish merchant ship sailing from Veracruz to Cadiz when a hurricane struck her fleet in September 1766, driving her aground near the Louisiana coast. All aboard reached shore safely, and Spanish authorities spent two months salvaging her valuable cargo, including copper ingots and 22 iron cannons carried for protection. The wreck lay hidden for 213 years until a shrimper caught copper ingots in his nets in 1979, leading to state archaeological study.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- Spanish Crown / merchant fleet sailing from Veracruz to Cadiz
Loss
- September 1, 1766
- Storm
- Near the Louisiana coast, Cameron Parish
- Gulf of Mexico
- Veracruz, Mexico → Cadiz, Spain
- Copper ingots and other Mexican merchant goods
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 20 ft
- Partially salvaged historically; archaeologically excavated remains including ballast stones and cargo.
- Not established
- 1979
- Managed as a state archaeological site by the Louisiana Division of Archaeology.
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Cameron Parish, Louisiana
Checked government (TARP/THC/BOEM/NOAA/state reef program), museum, academic, and dive-resource sources; found only descriptive loss-location narratives with no published latitude/longitude for the wreck site.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, Division of Archaeology
Loss date, voyage details, cargo, discovery history, and location description.
