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1715 Fleet Society Glossary

Definitions for terms used on the 1715 Fleet Society Website, curated by Fleet Society Director Emeritus, Ernie Richards.

Real Eight Company

Also 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 Lisbon Futch. Later the company included Bob Johnson, John Jones and Rex Stocker. C. Robert Brown also became a member of the group after Brown acquired the shares of Lisbon Futch in 1962. Brown died in 1964 and his shares ended up in his estate. They were later reacquired by the company. From its inception to the mid 1970’s, the Real Eight Company recovered the lions share of the precious treasure that was not salvaged by the Spanish after the 1715 Fleet was lost in a hurricane of that year. In the early 1960’s, ahead of everyone else, the company was first to obtain leases from that is located about  the State of Florida which gave the company sole permission to salvage the wreck sites of the Fleet. Under the protection of these leases the company was widely recognized as the leader in recovery efforts. The company was dissolved in 1984.

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