Wreckage from Christopher Columbus' ship the Santa Maria may have been found

Cuortesy: Wikimeda Commons

Tuesday, May 13, 2014, 5:25 PM - Archaeologists think they've discovered wreckage from the famed Santa Maria more than 500 years after it disappeared in the Caribbean.

The Santa Maria was the largest of the three vessels used by Christopher Columbus in his first discovery voyage and now several media outlets are reporting the wreckage was discovered off the coast of Haiti.

If this proves to be true, it will lay to rest speculation about where the famed ship came to rest after it ran aground on December 25, 1492.

Upon realizing that the ship was doomed, Columbus ordered his crew to strip wood from the vessel which was later used to build a fort called La Navidad in northern Haiti.

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In 2003 a separate team of archaeologists identified the possible location of the fort on the island of Hispaniola.

Archaeologist Barry Clifford used that data, combined with insight from Columbus' diary, to pinpoint the spot where Santa Maria may have sank.

Clifford told the Independent that "all the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus' famous flagship," adding that the Haitian government has been "extremely helpful" with the investigation.

According to The Independent, evidence in support of the theory that the wreckage is the Santa Maria is "substantial."

So far Clifford's team has only photographed the site, but there are plans to perform a full excavation.