The History of the
São José
W
In
March 1622, a fleet of ships including the
São José
hastily departed Lisbon with an urgent mission. Bound for Goa, the capital of
Portugal’s enormous overseas empire, the fleet carried Francisco da Gama, whose
great grandfather, the legendary Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, was the
first European to set foot in India via sea route. When the elder da Gama
discovered Goa in 1498 it was the largest trading center on India’s western
coast and would become Portugal's most important possession in its quest to
control the spice trade. Now over a century later, da Gama’s great grandson was
returning to Goa to reign as the Viceroy of India under the unified Spanish and
Portuguese crown.
The small Portuguese fleet, including its Almiranta, the
São José,
left the country in a hurry following reports that the British planned to take
Hormuz, a Portuguese-occupied island ideally situated in the narrow strait
between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. This strategic waterway served as
the gateway of the spice trade to Arabia and the Levant and was the only sea
route through the Persian Gulf to India. En route to Goa, the Portuguese fleet
had plans to block the British aggression
and
deter the loss of this critical outpost.
The
São José
was a “carrack,” an immense sailing vessel distinguished by her huge stern
castle towering high above the sea. Armed with brass cannon, she was typical of
Portuguese ships sailing to the Far East, transporting ballast, passengers and
the annual consignment of money to support trade with the East and Portuguese
outposts along the trade routes. The
São José
was indeed carrying an impressive cargo, the legendary silver treasure of Philip
III, King of Portugal, handed over to Francisco da Gama on his way to India. The
shipment included nine chests filled with thousands of silver reales coins
produced in both the Old and New World mints.
The passengers aboard the
São José
ranged from nobility to “orphans of the king.” The large vessel demanded a big
crew which was comprised mostly of ex-convicts and the “low class.” In need of
able-bodied men, Portugal was scraping the bottom of the human barrel to operate
its many
ships and offices of the empire.
After the
São José
and her fleet rounded the Cape of Good Hope, she proceeded up the well-traveled
route along the East African coast into the Strait of Madagascar. In the evening
of July 22, 1622, as the vessel sailed up the Mozambique Channel, a combined
fleet of Dutch and British ships of the East India Company attacked the
Portuguese flotilla. Trailing
behind the others, the
São José
was cut off from the rest of the fleet and surrounded by the enemy, which
allegedly fired more shots into the embattled vessel than ever before recorded
in a single-ship attack in the Indian Ocean. As fighting took place, the ship’s
captain, senior officers and others had fallen ill and the commanding officer
and pilot were killed.
Despite damage to her sails and spars, the
São José
remained afloat and navigable throughout the next day. The carrack then
attempted to escape the opposing fleet by sailing away from battle—a rare act in
Portuguese
naval warfare at the time. Fleeing toward the African coast, the great ship ran
into a shoal that tore off her rudder. Now drifting at the mercy of wind and
wave, failed attempts were made to control the enormous vessel. Anchors were
dropped in vain and cannon thrown overboard to lighten the ship.
Despite
these heroic efforts, the
São José
met her demise grounded on a reef off the Mozambique coast, victim to final
assault by the Anglo-Dutch fleet. A reported 66,000 Spanish reales were salvaged
by the enemy, a small share of the total treasure aboard the ship, lost with
some 300-400 passengers and crew as the vessel broke up and sank to the bottom
of the Mozambique Channel.
For nearly 400 years, the wreck of the
São José
remained hidden off the isolated coast of East Africa until her discovery in May
2005 by the Portuguese marine archaeology company Arqueonautas.
The extraordinary find yielded over 24,000 silver reales coins, representing a
rare collection of Old and New World mints with a wide variety of dates and
denominations—the stunning remains of King Philip III’s royal treasure once
bound for India when Spain and Portugal together claimed a vast overseas empire.
Read more:
Numismatic
comments on the São Jose (1622) shipwreck coin collection
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