President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia announced Saturday that the Spanish galleon San Jose, sunk 307 years ago in the Caribbean, has finally been found.
In 1708, while carrying $17 billion worth of valuables, including gold, silver, and jewlery, from the South American colonies to the Spanish king, the San Jose was attacked by a British war ship during the War of Spanish Succession. Britain sunk the San Jose outside the Colombian city of Cartagena, killing all 600 people on board, because the valuables were traveling to Spain to fund the war.