The Lost Ships of Cortez Project: Searching for a Conquistador's 500-Year-Old Scuttled Fleet

Appointed by the Governor of Cuba, Hernan Cortes led an expedition to explore and establish trade in what is now Mexico in 1519. In defiance of the Cuban Governor and in breach of his contract, Cortes established the town of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz on the Mexican coast. While Cortes forged alliances with indigenous communities and construction of the town was underway a faction of his men mutinied. He ordered ten of the eleven ships sunk in order to quell the mutiny. The eleventh, his flagship, was sent to Spain with news of his discoveries and intentions. Shortly afterward, Cortes marched inland and began his conquest of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, eventually succeeding in 1521.
Beginning in 2018, The Lost Ships of Cortes Project, funded by a grant from the National Geographic Society and support from Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Anthropologia e Historia, conducted geophysical surveys and diver investigations to search for the 500-year-old remains of Cortes’ scuttled vessels. The talk will be presented by Dr. Christopher Horrell and Melanie Damour who are project Principal and Co-Principal Investigators of the Lost Ships of Cortes Project, President and Vice-President of  Submerged Archaeological Conservancy International, and Marine Archaeologists with extensive resumes. Refreshments will be served in the Carriage House at Goodwood at 6:30 P.M. prior to the 7 O’clock presentation.