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Shipwreck · Recovered

Bom Jesus

Sank 1533 · found 2008, Namib Desert coast, near Oranjemund, Namibia
RECOVERED
Evidence status: Historical tradition. no documented source (historical tradition); legal status unknown (manual verification recommended). This account is presented as historical tradition, not verified fact. Manual verification recommended. Repository evidence: 0 sources · 0 timeline events · 0 media items · legal unknown · view on the Map Evidence on file: historical tradition

Bom Jesus: still unexplained.

~2,000 gold coins, copper & ivory

The law of this ground: Excavated by Namibian authorities; the treasure is held by the state.
The subject
developing the photograph…
The manifest
~2,000 gold coins, copper & ivory
The account

A Portuguese trader bound for India, lost in a 1533 storm, and found in 2008 when diamond miners drained a lagoon in the Namibian desert. The oldest and richest shipwreck ever found off sub-Saharan Africa, astonishingly preserved by the sand.

Leads, where the trail points now
  • A Portuguese ship that vanished in 1533 was found in 2008 by diamond miners draining a lagoon at Oranjemund, Namibia, the oldest known wreck off sub-Saharan Africa, with thousands of gold coins.
  • It was found on dry land, behind a sea wall inside a working diamond mine; the treasure went to the Namibian state.
  • The lead is that the De Beers mining coast may hide other lost Portuguese and Dutch wrecks under the sand.
What the record holds

What remains open

  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
What we know, and what we don't
Established

No documentary claim is yet established. The account rests on tradition.

Still open
  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
The evidence room

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

Where the trail points now
  • A Portuguese ship that vanished in 1533 was found in 2008 by diamond miners draining a lagoon at Oranjemund, Namibia, the oldest known wreck off sub-Saharan Africa, with thousands of gold coins.
  • It was found on dry land, behind a sea wall inside a working diamond mine; the treasure went to the Namibian state.
  • The lead is that the De Beers mining coast may hide other lost Portuguese and Dutch wrecks under the sand.
  • Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
  • Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
  • Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

Start the hunt here
The first leads, so no one walks in cold.
Sources and the record
Related case files

The full hunt kit

Starting brief, what's known and disputed, evidence timeline, source list, map card, coordinate-confidence and legal-access summaries, and a field checklist, free with a Fellowship account.

Latest Word From the Newswire

Context, not proof. The dossier's own sources remain the evidence record.

Checking the wire…

Chart position -28.600°, 16.450° (approx.) View on the Map