San Felipe
Merchant Ship · Spain · Lost 1733 · The Florida Keys
An English-built merchant nao nicknamed El Terri, wrecked with no loss of life off Lower Matecumbe Key in the same 1733 hurricane that scattered the Spanish treasure fleet.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
San Felipe, an English-built 486-ton merchant ship nicknamed El Terri for her owner's family, sailed in the 1733 New Spain flota loaded with silver and colonial goods. The July hurricane pushed her into shallow water near San Pedro, off Lower Matecumbe Key, where she filled and sank; everyone aboard survived. Most of her cargo was salvaged at the time, and her ballast mound remains a shallow, well-populated dive site today.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- England
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- 486
- Sail
- Guillermo Terry, Marqués of Cañada
Loss
- July 15, 1733
- Storm
- Inner edge of Hawk Channel off Lower Matecumbe Key
- Atlantic Ocean, Hawk Channel
- Veracruz, New Spain (via Havana) → Cádiz, Spain
- Silver, cochineal, indigo, chocolate, molasses, citrus relish, tobacco, gifts
- Not established
- 0
- Don José del Villar y Andrade
The Wreck Today
- 15 ft
- Relatively intact mound of cemented ballast stones covering the lower hull
- Not established
- Not established
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida
A location of 24° 50.761'N 80° 42.850'W is quoted on the Florida Heritage galleon trail page; kept unconfirmed here pending an authoritative survey position.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (76/100)
Exact beam and a verified survey coordinate are not established in the sources reviewed.
Florida Division of Historical Resources, 1733 Spanish Galleon Trail
Build background, cargo, loss narrative, site description.
