On Christmas Day 1492 off the coast of what is now Haiti the flag ship of Christopher Columbus ran aground on rocks during a storm. As Captain-General of the ship and of the expedition he ordered that wood from the ship be taken onto land and used to build a fort. It was his intention to leave members of the crew in situ on the island while Christopher Columbus and the other two ships returned to Spain.
When he returned to the island the fort was found empty and the fort destroyed.
The key goal of this mission was to find a westerly route to Asia instead what was found was North America.
His flag ship called Santa Maria was lost approximately 500 years ago and has remained lost until very recently when a US underwater investigator found what he believed to be the remains of the ship. So far his team has taken measurements and pictures of the site and has been working with the Haitian government to protect the site and to carry out a far more in depth study of the wreak.
It is believed that financial support for further investigation will come from both the Haitian government and the History Channel which is planning to make a television documentary of the find and investigation.
The investigator Barry Clifford has already been proven to find once lost ships as he was the first person to find the wreak of a pirate ship.
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