Spanish Silver Fleet Operations and Crisis (1620s)

Timeline

1. 1621–1627Atlantic route (Havana–Seville) · North AtlanticIn the 1620s Spain organized annual silver fleets from New World ports, assembling at Havana and escorting them across the Atlantic to Cádiz or Seville, providing the empire with roughly two-thirds of its hard currency income and sustaining the Netherlands and Italian fronts.
2. 1628Bahía de Manzanillo · CubaIn September 1628 Piet Hein of the Dutch West India Company led a fleet in a surprise attack at Matanzas Bay (northern Cuba), capturing Spain's entire 1628 silver fleet and seizing some 11.5 million Dutch guilders in silver and goods, one of the richest prizes in Dutch history.
3. 1628–1629Madrid · MadridThe 1628 fleet loss caused Spanish silver imports that year to plummet, worsening the Olivares government's bankruptcy pressures and dependence on Genoese bankers; Spain subsequently strengthened Caribbean convoys and home port defenses, but the 1629 fleet was still delayed by storms and pirate threats.