The Search for the Lost French Fleet of 1565: Results of the 2014 Survey

Summary

In July of 2014 the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP), in partnership with the National Park Service, the Center for Historical Archaeology, and the Institute for Maritime History, and with funding from the State of Florida and the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, launched an expedition to search for the lost colonization vessels of Jean Ribault. These ships had been intended to supply the nascent French colony at Fort Caroline in present-day Jacksonville, Florida. Instead they were shipwrecked by a sudden storm in September 1565, after attempting to attack a rival Spanish force lead by Pedro Menéndez at St. Augustine. LAMP conducted a geophysical survey followed by diver testing in Canaveral National Seashore waters. This paper summarizes the methodology and results of the project, which coincides with the 450th anniversary of this pivotal event and the subsequent founding of St. Augustine, the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the U.S.A.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Mercantilism and Hegemony; the crossroads of maritime ventures in the Americas from the 16th to 18th centuries

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 370