Treasure Fleets (Civ5)/Civilopedia

At various times, nations transporting large amounts of treasure and trade goods have resorted to convoys of transports to improve the chances that the cargo would actually arrive at its destination. The most famous was the annual Spanish treasure fleet that brought gold, silver, spices, tobacco, pearls and other riches from the West Indies to Spanish ports in Europe from 1566 to 1790 AD. The sack of Spanish Havana by French privateers and attacks on lone galleons by English buccaneers moved the Spanish to institute the convoys between the New World and Europe. Although the seas are relatively safe from pirates now, during wartime maritime nations still organize convoys to improve the chances of merchant ships arriving intact.