The Fleet Society is pleased to announce the acquisition of 1715 Fleet related documents including records, photographs, charts, graphs, articles and research materials long thought to be lost or destroyed. The documents were originally the property of several members of the Real Eight CompanyAlso referred to occasionally as “The Real 8 Company”- was incorporated in 1961. It had eight members….Kip Wagner, Kip Kelso, Dan Thompson, Harry Cannon, Lou Ullian, Del Long, Erv Taylor and Lis....
Through leases obtained from the State of Florida, the Real Eight CompanyAlso referred to occasionally as “The Real 8 Company”- was incorporated in 1961. It had eight members….Kip Wagner, Kip Kelso, Dan Thompson, Harry Cannon, Lou Ullian, Del Long, Erv Taylor and Lis... conducted wide spread salvage operations on 1715 Fleet wreck sites from the early 1960’s through the 1970’s. During this period of time, the Company was responsible for recovering enormous quantities of gold and silver coins, along with precious religious and personal artifacts. Much of what was discovered by the Real Eight ended up in museums and private collections. However, what was seemingly overlooked were many historical documents and records that were kept by members of the Real Eight CompanyAlso referred to occasionally as “The Real 8 Company”- was incorporated in 1961. It had eight members….Kip Wagner, Kip Kelso, Dan Thompson, Harry Cannon, Lou Ullian, Del Long, Erv Taylor and Lis....
The collection that we have acquired contains personal notes and logs, hand drawn wreck site plans, archival photographs, along with never seen before Real Eight CompanyAlso referred to occasionally as “The Real 8 Company”- was incorporated in 1961. It had eight members….Kip Wagner, Kip Kelso, Dan Thompson, Harry Cannon, Lou Ullian, Del Long, Erv Taylor and Lis... auction records and much, much more. The Society is fortunate indeed to have recovered these previously unknown and lost documents. It will take quite some time to inventory everything. Our plan is to publish what we can on the website as we go along.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about Fleet wreck sites and perhaps maybe even learn about the location of other Fleet ships that have not yet been located. There is so much material here in our “Treasure Trove” that we have scarcely had a chance to review it all. With the turn of every page, though, there is an excitement that something new will be discovered. But, it just goes to prove that gold and silver are not the only treasures to be found associated with the 1715 Fleet.
Stay tuned. Ben Costello
