&sq=&lang=&file=File:Morel_Fatio_caraque.jpg) San Esteban was a carrack, a common sailing vessel of the time.
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| History | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Banner_of_arms_crown_of_Castille_Habsbourg_style.svg){kind=small} Spain | |
| Name | San Esteban |
| Stricken | 29 April 1554 |
| Fate | Wrecked |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Carrack |
| Tons burthen | 164 to 286 long tons (167 to 291 t) |
| Length | 21 to 30 metres (69 to 98 ft) |
San Esteban was a Spanish cargo ship that was wrecked in a storm in the Gulf of Mexico on what is now the Padre Island National Seashore in southern Texas on 29 April 1554.
San Esteban was one of a flotilla of four ships carrying treasure from New Spain (Mexico) to Cuba. Three were wrecked in the storm, including San Esteban. Many of the three hundred sailors and passengers drowned while trying to reach shore. About thirty took a boat to seek help. Almost all the others died of thirst or starvation, or were killed by hostile local Karankawa Indians during their attempt to walk back to safety. The Spanish sent a salvage expedition, but recovered less than half of the cargo and treasure.
One of the wrecks was rediscovered in 1964. A private company, Platoro, Ltd., began to excavate the Espíritu Santo wreck in late 1967, which caused public outrage and the passage of new laws to protect wrecks on the Texan coast. The remains of San Esteban were found in 1970 and excavated in 1972–73. Many artifacts have been recovered and are held in the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, including the world's oldest mariner's astrolabe with a confirmed date.