Word: concepci
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...reef known today as Silver Shoals. The admiral and much of his crew floated to shore on rafts lashed together from the debris, but the ship's rich cargo sank beneath the waves. Just 46 years later, Colonist William Phips, born of a poor Maine family, found the Concepción and hauled up 32 tons of silver from the barnacle-encrusted wreck. In return for one-fifth of the find, a grateful King James II of England knighted his noble servant and made him Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. But by the time modern sea hunters began...
Following a steady procession of other curious adventurers, Webber launched his first search for the Concepción in January 1977. He was backed by a consortium of bankers and aided by a team of divers, cartographers, numismatists and electronics technicians. His fishing boat was equipped with sophisticated tracking instruments in addition to $15,000 worth of maps made from aerial photographs. This was not, as Webber put it, a Captain Kidd operation. Said he: "It was purely academic, based on research and scientific technology." Webber did have to strike a sort of treasure hunter's bargain, however...
Five months and 13 shipwreck sites later, Webber conceded defeat, even though he knew he had probably floated right over the Concepción. The problem: his principal tool, an onboard magnetometer for detecting telltale aberrations in magnetic fields, could not be used effectively. Haskins' research had revealed that the galleon was outfitted with nonmagnetic bronze cannons and that its iron anchors had been cut loose in deeper waters. The ship's remaining iron artifacts, such as hull fittings and cannon balls, had slipped into coral crevices where the device could not detect them...
...from the spot indicated by the 17th century expedition's log, they found iron fittings and pottery shards. Soon after, they found a 17th century Spanish olive jar, a rare Chinese cup and silver pieces of eight dated 1639 and earlier. Not a trace remained of the Concepción 's wooden hull...
...Dominican corvette now guards the site as plaudits pile up from other sea hunters. Admits Jacques Cousteau: "I would have liked to discover it myself." Melvin Fisher, president of Key West's Treasure Salvors Inc., calls the Concepción "a fabulous find, a major discovery," but he cautions that Phips may have virtually exhausted the treasure after all. For now, Webber can afford to shrug off any doubts. His backers' investment of $500,000, he reports, "is already covered." And the salvage operation, confidently scheduled to last six months, has just begun...