Na-'ay mali' ang dalawa lamang sa mga pangunahing mga manunulat sa paksang Treasure Ships sa Pilipinas o sa Pacific tungkol sa isang 'silver galleon' na nabahura sa Marinduque.
This blog has previously offered indisputable evidence that the name of the ship that ran aground in the shores of Marinduque in 1590 was SAN ILDEFONSO. This historical fact was sourced from the book by John Newsome Crossley, The Dasmarinases, Early Governors of the Spanish Philippines.
Said work by Crossley was published only recently, in April 2016. The works of Shirley Fish and Tom Bennett with a listing of shipwrecks in the Philippines in the days of the Manila Galleons were published much earlier apparently using other sources.
Crossley's book as the title suggests was not about treasure ships. It was a narrative about the rule of governors Gomez Perez Dasmarinas and his son Luis that largely measured up to the high moral standards required by their king.
Crossley utilized a rich selection of documents from official Spanish archives, earlier histories and an unpublished 628 page manuscript found at Indiana University that provides details not available elsewhere.
The San Ildefonso story in brief:
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| Gomez Perez Dasmarinas in an 1896 artwork by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo |
Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, as the seventh governor of the Philippines served from June 1, 1590 - October 25, 1593. (Short term due to his untimely death).
There is an important detail about the ships used by Dasmarinas from Acapulco to Manila. In Acapulco Dasmarinas found a smaller ship, San Ildefonso, which is only 80 tonnes and had just arrived from Peru. Dasmarinas using his new authority as governor going to the Philippines to assume hisposition, discharged its cacao and silver cargo, and filled it with the necessary cargo for the trip to the Philippines.
Dasmarinas' flagship was Santiago. They left Acapulco on March 1, 1590. With Dasmarinas and his son Luis Perez Dasmarinas (who also later became governor), were his nephews: Lope de Andrada, Captain and Sergeant-Major Juan Juarez Gallinato, Captains Hernando Becerra Montano and Gregorio Cubillo, Judge-advocate for war, Juan Villegas, Captain of Infantry, Diego Jordan, including the alferez (lieutenant) and sergeants of his military units, many soldiers, other passengers, and 17 Augustinian friars.
On board the San Ildefonso (the almiranta, or escort ship), were Dasmarinas' other nephew, Fernando de Castro, Captain Francisco Pacheco and Francisco de Mendoza with 90 soldiers, 6 Augustinian friars and two Jesuits.
One of these Jesuits was Padre Pedro Chirino who was to play an important role as historian (Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, 1604), during his many years in the Philippines.
The two galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean for three months, but after entering the Philippine archipelago at the dangerous Embocadero (San Bernardino Strait), they were met by a strong typhoon.
The galleon Santiago arrived on the island of Capul on May 24, 1590. Dasmarinas was worried about the fate of his almiranta so he spent another day waiting. Without any sign of the ship coming, he decided to proceed to Manila. Santiago arrived in Cavite, at 3:00 pm on May 31.
San Ildefonso also made it to Capul. But according to Chirino's writings the mast of San Ildefonso was damaged, the ship ran aground at the coast of Marinduque but the passengers were all brought to safety.
Statue of Fr. Pedro Chirino
Not long after Dasmarinas arrived in Manila, Dasmarinas ordered his cousin, Lope de Andrade, to return to Cavite to ensure that ships were ready to return to Acapulco. On June 26, 1590 Dasmarinas bade farewell to the travelers. While there on June 20 the remaining passengers who had been with him from Acapulco arrived in Cavite. They shared with the governor what happened to them in Marinduque. But no details, including the fate of the ship was mentioned.
When Dasmarinas returned to Manila, he instructed the pilot, Juan Gomez with several others to go to the town of Arevalo on the island of Panay. He was bent on building more galleons for the colony.
In Panay, a galleon was being built at that time. The name of that ship still being built in Panay at the time San Ildefonso ran aground in Marinduque: San Felipe.
Comes now the question: Where exactly in Marinduque did the San Ildefonso ran aground? What remains of the shipwreck?
Chirino's own narrative offers some intriguing clues and will be the subject of another story on this blog.
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| The Dasmarinases, Early Governors of the Spanish Philippines by John Newsome Crossley |
The Almiranta San Ildefonso ran aground near the coast of Marinduque in 1590 during the time of Gov. Gomez Perez Dasmarinas. Renowned historian P. Pedro Chirino was on board.
Above: From 'Treasure Ships of the Philippines' by Tom Bennett.
He erroneously wrote:
He erroneously wrote:
Spanish Manila Galleon
May 1590
SHIP Almiranta with no name
LOCATION Marinduque
ROUTE Acapulco to Manila, CARGO Silver specie.
Little is known of this ship except for the fact that all on board were saved and the ship was lost. A galleon site has been found between the Tres Reyes islands and the cliffs of Marinduque. It is unusual that she is not named in the records especially as she was meant to be a silver galleon from Acapulco. If her treasure lies on the seabed the place to look is the south end of Marinduque. Approximate Lat and Long.13 degrees 12'23 1"N 121 degrees 58'57 6"F
May 1590
SHIP Almiranta with no name
LOCATION Marinduque
ROUTE Acapulco to Manila, CARGO Silver specie.
Little is known of this ship except for the fact that all on board were saved and the ship was lost. A galleon site has been found between the Tres Reyes islands and the cliffs of Marinduque. It is unusual that she is not named in the records especially as she was meant to be a silver galleon from Acapulco. If her treasure lies on the seabed the place to look is the south end of Marinduque. Approximate Lat and Long.13 degrees 12'23 1"N 121 degrees 58'57 6"F
(Blogger's note: The location specified by Bennett is also erroneous. The sunken ship between Tres Reyes and the mainland has long been found and its artefacts recovered, but it was a Ming dynasty Chinese junk and not a Manila-Acapulco Galleon.)
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Above: From another book by Shirley Fish, The Manila-Acapulco Galleons: The Treasure Ships of the Pacific. It also erroneously named the ship 'San Felipe': 1590 San Felipe - The ship sailed from Acapulco to Manila, but was shipwrecked off the coast of the island of Marinduque in the Philippines.The ship's crew survived the wreckage with the cargo and silver which were valued at 500,000 pesos. |
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| The Manila-Acapulco Galleons: The Treasure Ships of the Pacific, Shirley Fish (2011) |
