Trinity
Pirate Prize Ship · Spain (built); flown no lawful flag under buccaneer command · Lost 1683 · The Lesser Antilles
A Spanish merchant ship taken as a prize by buccaneer Bartholomew Sharp and later lost when fire from a neighboring pirate ship consumed her in a St. Thomas harbor.
J Mark Chappell
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Originally the Spanish vessel La Santissima Trinidad, the ship was captured off Panama by English buccaneer captain Bartholomew Sharp and used as his flagship during a raiding voyage along the Pacific coast of South America. She later passed through other hands and was moored at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, in July 1683 alongside the pirate ship La Trompeuse. When a Royal Navy cutting-out party set La Trompeuse on fire, the blaze spread to the Trinity, and both vessels burned and sank in the harbor.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- Spanish owners (as La Santissima Trinidad); crew of buccaneer captain Bartholomew Sharp after capture
Loss
- July 21, 1683
- Fire
- Charlotte Amalie harbor, St. Thomas, Danish West Indies
- Caribbean Sea
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- No reliable casualty figures for this vessel are established in the sources reviewed.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Buried remains reported in harbor sediment
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 18.34° N 64.93° W
- Approximate position
- Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
General position of Charlotte Amalie harbor; no confirmed wreck coordinates.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (60/100)
The vessel's fate after Sharp's voyage and prior to her loss at St. Thomas is only partly documented.
Narrative of the Trinity's origin, capture by Sharp, and destruction alongside La Trompeuse.
