Columbus’s Flagship The Santa Maria May Have Been Found

The wreck of the flagship Santa Maria, one of three ships that carried Christopher Columbus to the Americas more than five centuries ago, may have been found.

A ruin photographed off Haiti’s north coast, by an underwater investigator, “strongly suggests” is the Santa Maria.

Mr Clifford, 68, said: “This is the ship that changed the course of human history. It is the Mount Everest of shipwrecks for me.”

The video released from the History Channel, shows divers studying the wreck off the north coast of Haiti. Marine explorers say is proof they have found the shipwreck of the Santa Maria.

They add that the 500-year-old remains of the Santa Maria are embedded in the reef and have photographed and measured them to show off their findings.

La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción (Spanish for The Holy Mary of the Immaculate Conception), or La Santa María, was the largest of the three ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage. Her master and owner was Juan de la Cosa.

The Santa María was built in Castro-Urdiales, Cantabria, in Spain’s northeast region. The Santa Maríawas probably a medium-sized nau (carrack), about 58 ft (17.7 m) long on deck, and according to Juan Escalante de Mendoza in 1575, the Santa Maria was “very little larger than 100 toneladas” (about 100 tons, or tuns) burthen, or burden, and was used as the flagship for the expedition. The Santa María had a single deck and three masts.