UDT/SEAL
(Frogman) MUSEUM
This museum is located on the same beach where the first U.S. Navy
Frogmen trained in 1943. It is the only museum dedicated exclusively
to these elite fighting men. See actual equipment, weapons, diving gear,
demolition apparatus, parachutes, and rubber rafts, most of which at one
time were classified as Top Secret. You can view uniforms, photographs,
and memorabilia from their missions from every era. Located on A1A, North
Hutchinson Island, Ft. Pierce. Phone 772-595-5845.
The Urca de Lima park, at the site of one of the fabled
Spanish treasure flota (fleet) wrecks that sank during a hurricane
in 1715 off present-day Fort Pierce, was opened to the public in September
1987. It was Florida's first Underwater Archaeological Preserve.
Urcas were flat-bottomed, round-bellied storeships originally designed to ply the shallow waters off the Flemish coast. Due to their cargo carrying capacity, they soon were adopted for the Spanish-American trade between Europe and the New World.
The Urca de Lima was part of the Spanish merchant convoy commanded by Capitan General Don Juan de Ubilla. Loaded with the products of Mexico and Manila, Ubilla's flota of ships rendezvoused in the summer of 1715 with the South American squadron of Antonio de Echeverz at Havana to begin the long voyage back to Spain. The combined fleet of eleven vessels set sail from Cuba on the 24th of July, but they were never to reach the open ocean. Only a few days out, the flota was struck by a fierce hurricane off the coast of Florida. The Urca de Lima was grounded by the storm but left relatively intact. The Lima had been heavily laden with general cargo, which included hundreds of uncured cowhides, packets of chocolate, vanilla, sassafras, incense, and other exotic products which brought high prices in Europe. Unlike other ships in the stricken flota, she carried no royal treasure, only private silver in sacks and chests. It was probably her stout hull that had saved much of her contents from being dashed away in the storm. She was the first of the fleet wrecks to be salvaged by Spanish crews from Havana, but was then burned to the waterline to conceal her position from English freebooters, who also began to arrive at the scene. Although many precious goods were recovered from the wrecksites shortly after the disaster, salvage attempts soon ended as turbid sand engulfed the remnants of the lost ships and their cargo.
Exhibits including artifacts from the 1715 treasure fleet can be seen at the following locations:
HOURS: Daily dawn to dusk.
ADMISSION: Parking lot fee.
DIRECTIONS: Follow Highway A1A north from the Fort Pierce Inlet
to Pepper Park. Walk northward along the beach approximately 1,000 yards
from the park boundary. The wrecksite lies on the first offshore reef in
10-15 feet of water, some 200 yards from shore. Please anchor only at a
marker buoy to avoid disturbing the remains of the ship, and remember
to display a "divers down" flag. No spear fishing is allowed within 100
feet of the site.
Call Water N Sports for a Beach Surf & Dive
Report 772-228-9290