Spanish ship Santísima Trinidad (1751)

The Santísima Trinidad was a galleon destined for merchant shipping between the Philippines and México. She was one of the largest of the Manila galleons; officially named Santísima Trinidad y Nuestra Señora del Buen Fin, and was familiarly known as The Mighty (El Poderoso). She is not to be confused with the Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad, the biggest warship in the world in its time, which sank at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Career
She was 51,1m long, 15,4m across the beam and drew 9,3m and displaced 2,000 tons. Armed with 70 guns, she was laid in Manila in 1750 under orders from the Governor-General of the Philippines Don Francisco José de Ovando, 1st Marquis of Brindisi. Her large volume and some construction errors made a transformation necessary in 1757 to reduce her displacement.

Capture
In August 1762 she departed from Cavite towards Acapulco, but due to bad winds and a typhoon in the night of October 2 which brought down two masts, the captain decided to return to the Philippines. He was unaware that Manila had fallen into British hands after the Battle of Manila. The ship was intercepted by HMS Panther under captain Hyde Parker and the frigate HMS Argo under Richard King. Panther opened fire, but did little damage to her thick wooden hull and caused few casualties. Nevertheless the disheartened crew of the Santísima Trinidad decided to surrender. On board was a treasure to the value of two million dollars.

The ship was taken to Portsmouth, where her sale earned the two captains 30,000 pounds, a fortune at that time. It is not known what happened to the ship after the sale but she was probably scrapped.