On a Manila Galleon of the 16th Century: A Nautical Perspective

Abstract

As part of the ongoing research on the site of a Manila Galleon wreck that is believed to have sunk in 1576 on its way back from Asia en route to New Spain by the project “Galeon de Manila, Baja California” SAS/INAH (Subdireccion de Arqueologia Subacuatica/Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia), attention has shifted from the study of the cargo to the nautical characteristics of the ship itself, that is, what kind of ship are we dealing with, what characteristics did the ship have, and how and where it might have been built. The project started in 1999 and has continued since, along 12 field seasons both on the coast and at sea. The preliminary results thus far are quite interesting as the collection of artifacts recuperated gives us interesting clues as to the nature of the cargo on early Manila Galleons previously thought to be the 400 tons galleon “San Felipe” lost in 1576 (Von der Porten 2010). Given the dispersion of artifacts and the characteristics of the site, the wrecking process has been proposed with a good degree of certainty. Even though, some artifacts pertaining to the ship itself have been documented, little is known on the characteristics of this vessel yet. To help in better approaching the study of the ship, I propose a Spanish nautical treatise in particular, as the best possible source for information on the ship. The treatise in question, “Instruccion Nautica” printed in Mexico City in 1584, is not only relevant because of the proximity in time to the construction and wrecking of the ship, but also because the author Diego Garcia de Palacio (DGP) is intimately linked to the topic as a constructor of Manila Galleons, a commercial entrepreneur of the route and his ambitions to build ships to undertake the impossible conquest of China in the 16th century. Although, potentially other treatises exist that could be used in this process, it is the best source of information on what the Baja California, Manila Galleon could have been like, for several reasons I will develop in this paper. Further research on the galleon should depart from the information contained on this treatise to study the iron works of the ship and the creation of a possible model.