the Spanish used "holy names" of the catholic faith as "protection" from the seas they invoked the saints by naming their ships after them and they used other holy names and symbols as well --conception --after the holy conception of the virgin mary * & the mother of jesus.----.often the ships owner used their patron saints name in the case of the 1715 fleet that lead to more than one "San Miguel" in Echeverz's fleet -- one was a large nao that was hauling tobacco loaded in cuba and the other a much smaller dutch prize vessel taken in South America for illegal trading
over the years due to this very common practice ---there were often dozen of wrecked vessels from different times and places that all had the "same name"...it can be quite difficult to do proper research because of this especially if two vessels with the same name sank in the same general area or close time frame wise.
As long as this thread has been yanked into the present:
Ivan is correct as far as my studies go. This makes total sense, and especially in the context of the times. The names of ships weren't exclusive, but could be used again as the context seems to be an honor to the various phrases in their religion. 30 years prior was a long time, and those ships weren't coming back.
To make matters worse, they often had several nicknames for their ships; the 1715
Santísima Trinidad was otherwise known as the
Urca de Lima, and also is mentioned as
Nao de Refuerzo. The 1733
San Felipe was nicknamed
El Terri, after her owner, Guillermo Terry.
and in the case of several, the ships bore prior names such as the
Hampton Court, which started out in the British Royal Navy in 1678, captured by the French in 1707, and ended up in 1708 sold to Spain and renamed
Nuestra Senora del Carmen y San Antonio, the
Capitana we know as the Rio Mar Wreck.