treasure fleet
Gold-laden naval squadron
A treasure fleet is a convoy of ships transporting valuable cargo—gold, silver, spices, or other precious goods—typically under military escort.
The term most often refers to the Spanish fleets that carried New World wealth across the Atlantic from the 16th to 18th centuries: Divers discovered the wreck of a Spanish treasure fleet off the Florida coast.
The Chinese treasure fleets of the early 15th century, commanded by Admiral Zheng He, were massive diplomatic and trading expeditions rather than cargo convoys.
- armed escortWeapon-carrying protective companion
- Spanish ArmadaDefeated invasion fleet
- Spanish MainColonial Caribbean coast and sea
- silver ingotsCast bars of refined metal
- pieces of eightOld Spanish coinage
mercantilism · piracy · high seas · spice routes · trade winds · cargo holds · sea chest · diplomatic exchanges · harbor town · global commerce · wealth redistribution · trade monopolies · shipboard life · taxation systems · navigation techniques · shipbuilding · doubloons · provisioning
- trade historycommerce, merchant, trade routes, traders, colonial economy
- Asian Maritimejunks, junk, sampan, dragon boats, dragon boat
- Silk Roadsilk, silk road, Silk Road, caravans, merchants
- treasure shipsSpanish galleon, galleon, San Jose
- explorationexploration, explore, expedition, expeditions, voyage
- Maritime ExplorationColumbus, Magellan, voyage, navigator, Age of Discovery
treasure, fleet, treasures, treasured, treasuring, treasurer, treasury, treasuries, fleets