Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas
Galleon · Spain · Lost 1656 · The Bahamas
A Spanish treasure galleon that sank off the Little Bahama Bank in 1656 after colliding with its own fleet flagship, taking most of her 650 people down with a fortune in silver.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas served as vice-flagship of Spain's Tierra Firme treasure fleet, carrying silver bullion and coin from Cartagena toward Cadiz. On the night of 4 January 1656, she was struck by the fleet's own flagship in the Bahama Channel; her hull breached, she struck a reef on the Little Bahama Bank and sank within half an hour. Of roughly 650 people aboard, only about 45 survived. Spanish wreckers recovered an estimated five million pesos of silver over the following decades, and the site has been the subject of licensed modern archaeological survey by Allen Exploration since 2019.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- 891
- Sail
- Spanish Crown (Tierra Firme fleet)
Loss
- January 4, 1656
- Collision
- Western Little Bahama Bank
- Little Bahama Bank
- Cartagena, Colombia → Cadiz, Spain
- Silver bars and coin, including salvaged cargo from the earlier-lost Jesus Maria de la Limpia Concepcion
- 650
- 605
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Heavily salvaged and scattered; an extensive debris trail has been mapped by modern archaeological survey
- Not established
- 2011
- Surveyed under license from the Government of the Bahamas; not a public dive site
Position
- Not established
- Position withheld to protect the site
- Western Little Bahama Bank
Precise site location is protected under the ongoing licensed archaeological survey and not published.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
Bahamas Maritime Museum / Allen Exploration Ocean Dispatches
Ship type, voyage, collision cause, casualty figures, salvage history.
Narrative confirmation of loss and modern archaeological survey.
