AH-WR-1443

Nuestra Señora de la Pura y Limpia Concepción

Galleon · Spain · Lost 1641 · Cuba & the Greater Antilles

A Spanish guardacostas galleon carrying silver and porcelain from New Spain wrecked on the reefs later named the Silver Bank after a 1641 hurricane.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in Havana in 1620 as a merchant galleon, the Concepción later served in the Armada de la Carrera de Indias, the fleet system tasked with protecting Spanish treasure convoys and coastlines from pirates and foreign raiders. Sailing as Almiranta of the 1641 New Spain fleet, she was crippled by hurricanes and wrecked on the reefs north of Hispaniola that afterward became known as the Silver Bank. Spanish salvors recovered part of her cargo soon after, but the wreck's fame grew when New England mariner William Phips recovered a fortune in silver from her in 1687, a feat that won him a knighthood.

Vessel

Built: 1620
Builder: Not established
Yard: Havana, Cuba
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 600
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Spanish Crown, Armada de la Carrera de Indias

Loss

Date: October 31, 1641
Cause: Storm
Location: Abrojos Shoals (Silver Bank), north of Hispaniola
Water: Atlantic Ocean, Silver Bank
Voyage: Veracruz, New Spain, via Havana → Cadiz, Spain
Cargo: Silver bullion, coin, gold and jewelry, Ming porcelain
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Casualty figures are not firmly established in the sources reviewed.
Master: Juan de Villavicencio

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Scattered debris field across coral reef
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1687 (salvage by Sir William Phips)
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 20.60° N 69.90° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Silver Bank, north of the Dominican Republic
Region: Cuba & the Greater Antilles

General position on the Silver Bank as referenced by salvage operators; precise site coordinates are commercially withheld.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)

Exact casualty figures and full details of the ship's final hours are not established in the sources reviewed.

New England Historical Society
Loss narrative and Phips salvage account.
Todoavante.es Spanish naval vessel registry
Build date, tonnage, guardacostas role, and loss date.