Spanish ship San Telmo

San Telmo was a 74-gun ship of the line of the Spanish Navy launched in 1788. It sank in 1819, while bringing reinforcements to Peru during the war of independence. Based on the location where it was lost, it has been speculated that survivors may have reached Antarctica.

Illustration of San Telmo by Alejo Berlinguero at the Naval Museum of Madrid
History
Spain
Name	San Telmo
Namesake	Peter González or Erasmus of Formia
Operator	Spanish Navy
Launched	20 June 1788
Fate	Sunk, 2 September 1819
General characteristics
Displacement	2,550 tons
Length	53 m (174 ft)
Beam	14.5 m (48 ft)
Complement	644

History

In 1819, the San Telmo, commanded by Captain Joaquín de Toledo y Parra, was the flagship of a Spanish naval squadron under Brigadier Rosendo Porlier y Asteguieta bound for Callao, Peru, to reinforce colonial forces there fighting the independence movements in Spanish America. It was damaged by severe weather in the Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn on 2 September 1819, and sank with all 644 people on board.

Legacy

Some remnants and signs of the wreckage were later found by William Smith on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, located on the Antarctic continental shelf. If any crew members survived the initial sinking and managed to land there, they would have been the first people to reach the continent.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} San Telmo Island, off the north coast of Livingston Island, is named after the ship.

Prior to the battle that led to the capture of Valdivia in February 1820, the patriot force told the Spanish garrison of the Valdivian Fort System they were part of the convoy of San Telmo. Using this tactic they were able to approach the beach at Aguada del Inglés largely undisturbed before their amphibious assault begun.^[7]

In 1985 a skull belonging to an indigenous woman was found on Yamana Beach, and may be related to the San Telmo.^[8]

See also

• List of ships of the line of Spain
• List of disasters in Antarctica by death toll