Manila galleons
The Manila galleons, regularly targeted by pirates, privateers and regular naval forces from Spain's European rivals, made annual voyages between Acapulco and Manila.
For two and a half centuries, they represented the sole line of communication between Spain and the Philippines and the economic lifeline for the Spanish colony in Manila.
Initially, four ships made the journey each year, but from 1593 that number was halved.
The outward journey, carrying vast quantities of Mexican silver, church personnel, colonist and communications from Spain, followed a track that took the ship south of the Hawaiian Islands with a short stopover in Guam before proceeding to Manila.
The four-month return leg, laden with Chinese silk and other exotic goods, including perfumes, porcelain, Indian cotton and precious stones, followed the route pioneered by Andrés de Urdaneta and Alonso de Arellano in 1565, tracking north to the 38th parallel to catch the westerly winds that would carry them across the Pacific.
From Acapulco, where the cargo delivered a profit between 100 and 300%, the goods went to Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. They were sent on to Spain aboard an annual treasure fleet.
Most of the 108 ships that set out on the route between 1565 and 1815 were built in the Philippines from local hardwood, usually displaced between 1,700 and 2,000 tons, and carried between three hundred and five hundred passengers. Twenty-six were lost.
Significant galleon losses to the British included the Santa Anna, captured by Thomas Cavendish (1587) and the Nuestra Senora de la Covadonga, taken by George Anson (1743).
While the route remained in use until the Mexican War of Independence in 1815, its commercial importance declined as other nations began direct trade with China.
