On the other hand, the Spanish recovered more treasure from the 1733 treasure fleet than had been officially registered on it. ===Bermuda and Jamaica=== In the 16th and 17th centuries Spanish ships returning to Spain from the Caribbean rode the Gulf Stream to Cape Canaveral and then aimed for Bermuda.
In 1733, 19 ships of the Spanish treasure fleet wrecked during a hurricane in the middle and upper keys, and salvage operations lasted four years.
When the Spanish were salvaging the wrecks of the 1733 treasure fleet, the Spanish commander of the operation expressed concern that the Bahamians would try to salvage some of the treasure on their own.
By 1775, George Gauld, who produced a chart of the Keys that was still being used 75 years later, advised mariners to stay with their ships if they wrecked, so that the Bahamian wreckers could assist them.
Increased shipping after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 led to more wrecks.
A U.S law of 1825 required that all goods salvaged from wrecks in U.S.
Ships were wrecking on the Florida Reef at the rate of almost once a week in the middle of the 19th century (the collector of customs in Key West reported a rate of 48 wrecks a year in 1848).
In 1856 there were 302 ships and 2,679 men (out of a total population of 27,000) licensed as wreckers in the Bahamas.
In 1858 there were 47 boats and ships licensed as wreckers. ====Early history==== Ships began wrecking along the Florida Reef almost as soon as Europeans reached the New World.
The alleged intent was to fool mariners into believing that the slow-moving lights were ships drifting at rest or at anchor, prompting the ships to change course and subsequently run aground. In 1860, a writer for Harper’s New Monthly Magazine corroborated the story of the "bankers" who gave Nags Head its name. ==Wrecking in the Americas== ===Spanish America=== As soon as the Spanish began sending home the treasures they found in the New World, some of the treasure was lost in shipwrecks.
In 1865, the last year of the Civil War, £28,000 worth of salvaged goods were taken to Nassau.
In 1866 that rose to £108,000, and peaked at £154,000 in 1870.
In 1866 that rose to £108,000, and peaked at £154,000 in 1870.
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