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Loss of the ?Sao Thome? in 1589 extracted from Chronicles of Shipwrecks and Sunken Treasure 900-1900 AD available from SevenSeasPublishing. com
1589
(3) In January a Portuguese fleet loaded with tons of treasure sailed from India homebound for their native country. These were the ships Santa Maria, which sailed on the 1st, Nossa Senhora de Concepcion, sailing on the 6th, and the San Christopher and Santo Antonio, both of which sailed on the 10th. Meanwhile, the mighty ?Sao Thome,? under command of Captain Estevao de Veiga, sailed on the 15th and the Santa Cruz, in which embarked famous Dutch historian Jan Huygen van Linscoten, sailed on the 20th.
During the navigation, when located eastward from Madagascar in latitude 26 South, the ?Sao Thome? began leaking both in bow (proa) and also in the stern (popa). The crew afterwards foolishly removed structural woodwork to expose the leaks source, causing part of the stern to collapse. With that, one sailor prophetically proclaimed ?our ship has sailed at the mercy of God to save money.? Eventually the leak was plugged using caulking made of rice paste overlaid with lead patches held down with heavy crates.?
?
Later on March 14th in latitude 32 30' South, rough weather caused leaking to resume in the planking and flooding soon filled the stowage holds, setting adrift chests of merchandise doing great damage each time the ship rolled in the waves.? Throughout the ensuing day and into the night water levels continued rising until clogging of the bilge pumps with pepper foretold the end was soon forthcoming. Thereafter people fought to gain a place in the lifeboat, while those left behind, knowing that death might come at any hour, requested Padre Friar Antonio do Rosario, a Dominican, to hear their confessions which he continued doing until the following morning when the ?Sao Thome? sank ?like a flash of lightning?. The captain of the? ?Sao Thome,?? who was among the survivors, later related the loss had occurred less than eight leagues from St. Lucia Bay and that the ship had submerged with ?treasure and merchandise almost beyond computation.??
Afterwards the remaining ships of the fleet arrived independently at St. Helena Island between April 27th and May 12th and were soon joined by another vessel homebound from Malacca before sailing together for the Azores. There they arrived near the Portuguese castle on Terceria on July 24th where small fast advice boats were immediately dispatched to Portugal to alert authorities of the fleets impending arrival. In the interim, those remaining at Terceria grew apprehensive as August was approaching, which always brought stormy weather and on the 4th, the unidentified ?Ship from Malacca? was driven from its anchorage and pounded into pieces at the base of a cliff. The historian Linschoten wrote of this loss saying:
?In that ship of Malacca, was lost much rich and costly merchandise. For these ships are ordinarily as rich as the ships those coming from India, being full of all the rich wares found in China, the Moluccas, and Japan. So it was a great pity to see costly things such as silks, damasks, cloths of gold and silver and other such merchandise fleeted upon the sea and torn to pieces. There was much goods saved, that lay in the upper part of the ship by use of divers.?
Salvage operations at the wreck site continued for the next 2? years, obviously indicating that cargo trapped below the upper decks, did not consist of perishable items like spices or cloths. The other ships finally reached Lisbon around August 24th, having taken two-thirds of a year to complete the voyage.?
1589
(3) In January a Portuguese fleet loaded with tons of treasure sailed from India homebound for their native country. These were the ships Santa Maria, which sailed on the 1st, Nossa Senhora de Concepcion, sailing on the 6th, and the San Christopher and Santo Antonio, both of which sailed on the 10th. Meanwhile, the mighty ?Sao Thome,? under command of Captain Estevao de Veiga, sailed on the 15th and the Santa Cruz, in which embarked famous Dutch historian Jan Huygen van Linscoten, sailed on the 20th.
During the navigation, when located eastward from Madagascar in latitude 26 South, the ?Sao Thome? began leaking both in bow (proa) and also in the stern (popa). The crew afterwards foolishly removed structural woodwork to expose the leaks source, causing part of the stern to collapse. With that, one sailor prophetically proclaimed ?our ship has sailed at the mercy of God to save money.? Eventually the leak was plugged using caulking made of rice paste overlaid with lead patches held down with heavy crates.?
?
Later on March 14th in latitude 32 30' South, rough weather caused leaking to resume in the planking and flooding soon filled the stowage holds, setting adrift chests of merchandise doing great damage each time the ship rolled in the waves.? Throughout the ensuing day and into the night water levels continued rising until clogging of the bilge pumps with pepper foretold the end was soon forthcoming. Thereafter people fought to gain a place in the lifeboat, while those left behind, knowing that death might come at any hour, requested Padre Friar Antonio do Rosario, a Dominican, to hear their confessions which he continued doing until the following morning when the ?Sao Thome? sank ?like a flash of lightning?. The captain of the? ?Sao Thome,?? who was among the survivors, later related the loss had occurred less than eight leagues from St. Lucia Bay and that the ship had submerged with ?treasure and merchandise almost beyond computation.??
Afterwards the remaining ships of the fleet arrived independently at St. Helena Island between April 27th and May 12th and were soon joined by another vessel homebound from Malacca before sailing together for the Azores. There they arrived near the Portuguese castle on Terceria on July 24th where small fast advice boats were immediately dispatched to Portugal to alert authorities of the fleets impending arrival. In the interim, those remaining at Terceria grew apprehensive as August was approaching, which always brought stormy weather and on the 4th, the unidentified ?Ship from Malacca? was driven from its anchorage and pounded into pieces at the base of a cliff. The historian Linschoten wrote of this loss saying:
?In that ship of Malacca, was lost much rich and costly merchandise. For these ships are ordinarily as rich as the ships those coming from India, being full of all the rich wares found in China, the Moluccas, and Japan. So it was a great pity to see costly things such as silks, damasks, cloths of gold and silver and other such merchandise fleeted upon the sea and torn to pieces. There was much goods saved, that lay in the upper part of the ship by use of divers.?
Salvage operations at the wreck site continued for the next 2? years, obviously indicating that cargo trapped below the upper decks, did not consist of perishable items like spices or cloths. The other ships finally reached Lisbon around August 24th, having taken two-thirds of a year to complete the voyage.?
