This covers every important treasure ship lost, and sometimes found, from the 16th century onwards. The book is organized into four geographical sections: Europe, Australasia, the Americas and Africa, with the ships arranged alphabetically by name within each section. Here the reader will find 17th-century Spanish galleons laden with gold ingots from the New World, 18th-century Dutch merchantmen loaded down with Chinese Ming porcelain and Chinese gold, even a British warship from World War II. Details are given of each vessel's sinking, her treasure, and where possible, the location of the wreck and any treasure recovered. While recovery attempts were often undertaken soon after a ship had gone down, advances in diving technology mean that it is now possible to explore wrecks that have until recently been beyond salvage capabilities, as with the discovery in 1991 of the US Central America - one of the greatest treasure ships ever found - located at 8000 feet and valued at over one billion dollars.