San Juan de Silicia The San Juan de Silicia was one of the 130 ships that formed the ill - fated Spanish Armada of 1588 . The ship was originally known as the Brod Martolosi , before it was seized to form part of the navy . It was one of 10 ships forming the Levant squadron , one of 8 squadrons that formed the entire armada . The ship was wrecked off of the Inner Hebridean island of Mull . Over the years the true identity of the wreck was forgotten , and rumours of gold were tied to the ship . The ship was said to have been named the " Florida " , and to have been the flagship of the fleet , and a treasure ship . It was also said to have been the " Florencia " . It was not until the turn of the 20th century that the true identity of the ship was determined . The remains of the " San Juan de Silicia " have been destroyed by countless searches for gold . Spanish Armada . The " San Juan de Silicia " was one of many ships embargoed to enforce the Spanish Armada . She was originally known as the " Brod Martolosi " , and was based out of Rugusa ( modern Dubrovnik ) , and captained by Luka Ivanov Kinkovic . The ship , and several others , were commandeered by the viceroy of Sicily in December 1586 . The ship may have seen service with the Spanish in 1587 , when the Marquis of Santa Cruz commanded a fleet to the Azores . The ship was renamed the " Santa Maria de Gracia y san Jan Bautista " , although it was not the only ship to be named after St John the Baptist , and as such , she became known as the " San Juan de Silicia " to differentiate it from the others . The " San Juan de Silicia " was one of 10 ships that formed the Levant squadron , which was commanded by Martín de Bertendona . The squadron of 10 ships was manned by 767 seamen , and 2 , 780 soldiers . The " San Juan de Silicia " was one of the larger ships of the fleet , with only about 20 of the total 130 ships being larger . The senior officer on board was Diego Tellez Enríquez . It had a crew of 62 seaman , who were mainly Slavonic , under the command of Luka Ivanov Kinkovic . The ship also carried military troops : 135 Sicilians , under the command of Miguel de Garros ; 54 Flemings , under the command of Antonia de Valcarel ; and 90 Spaniards , under the command of Don Pedro Enriquez . The " San Juan de Silicia " was heavily damaged by English ships . Scotland and destruction . On 23 September 1588 , the " San Juan de Silicia " was spotted off Islay , and several days later landed in Tobermory Bay , on the Isle of Mull . The ship was not damaged , but the crew were short of water , and the ship ' s senior officer negotiated for supplies with the local chieftain , Lachlan MacLean of Duart . The agreement was that the ship would be replenished if Spanish troops were to be used to settle some of Duart ' s outstanding feuds with nearby clans . Diego Tellez Enríquez also received a surety of five hostages from Duart , and for more than a month the " San Juan de Silicia " remained in port , as Spanish troops ravaged the lands of Duart ' s enemies . The troops aided Duart by ravaging the Inner Hebridean islands of Rum and Eigg , which belonged to MacDonald of Clanranald ; and the nearby islands of Canna and Muck , which belonged to MacIan of Ardnamurchan . The troops were later used on the mainland , when they besieged Mingary Castle for three days , although MacLean of Duart was then forced to withdraw . One of the merchants who provisioned the ship was John Smollet , from Dumbarton , who is now considered to have been an agent for Sir Francis Walsingham . On 5 November 1588 , the ship exploded , killing almost everyone on board – including the five hostages . Of the survivors , MacLean of Duart kept about fifty , and used them in his feuding for another year before having them shipped back home to Spain . Uncertain identity , Spanish gold . Years after the destruction of the " San Juan de Silicia " , the ship ' s identity was forgotten , and rumours of Spanish gold were linked to the wreck . In 1677 , the ship was known as " the Armada treasure - ship " . It was said to have been originally the " Florida " , and was the " almirante " ( flagship ) of the Spanish fleet , and was said to have had a treasure of " 30 , 000 , 000 of money " on - board . In fact , the " almirante " of the fleet made it safely back to port , and no ship by the name " Florida " is known to have taken part in the Spanish Armada . The ' treasure - ship ' has also been called the " Florencia " , however the real " Florencia " also survived the expedition . It wasn ' t until the turn of the 20th century that serious scholarship cast light onto the ship ' s true identity . To complicate matters , there were several ships with the name " San Juan " – at least nine of them . Another complication is that there are known to be have been at least two men with the name " Diego Enríquez " in the fleet , though one can be distinguished by the name " Tellez " . In early accounts of the wreck , the captain was called " Diego Manrique " , although no officer of the fleet is known to have had this name . Salvage and artifacts . There are known to have been attempts at salvaging the wreck as far back as the 17th century . The first to do so are thought to have been Swedes , who recovered items from the wreck of the Swedish " Wasa " , lost in Stockholm Harbour in 1628 . The earliest diving for treasure was instigated by the Earl of Argyll . The rights to salvage were transferred to the Crown following Argyll ' s support of the Commonwealth , but were restored to the family sometime afterwards . The rights were again taken away from the family when Argyll supported the Duke of Monmouth in 1685 , and James II authorised searches for treasure . The salvage rights were again returned to the family by William II and Mary II , although no further searches took place until 1729 , when the 2nd Duke of Argyll employed divers who were previously successful with the wreck of the " El Gran Grifón " . Explosives and winches were employed at this time , to break up the wreck on the bottom of the bay , but no treasure was found . Attempts at salvaging the wreck have continued right up through to the end of 20th century . Over the years numerous objects have been salvaged from the wreck , such as : guns , anchors , pewter platters , and medals . A bronze cannon was recovered from the wreck of the " San Juan de Silicia " in about 1740 . The gun is specifically a " medio cañón " , a type of canon that utilized heavy shot that weighed 15 – 27 Castilian " libras " . The gun bears the emblem of Francis I of France , King of France , and may have been originally captured by the Spanish at the battle of St Quentin in 1557 , or possibly at the battle of Pavia in 1525 . The gun is currently located at Inveraray Castle . The gun is estimated to have weighed , its bore is , its length is , and its shot weight is of iron . The gun ' s bore / length ratio is 1 : 19 . 4 , and its shot / gun weight is 1 : 137 .