Interesting. Just finished reading
Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1492-1504 by Laurence Bergreen. Some notes from the book. The shipwreck occurred on Christmas eve, 1492. The crew had been drinking to celebrate the occasion and with a fairly calm sea the helmsman turned over the tiller to the ship's boy and went to sleep. Ship struck a reef with a 14 year old at the helm.
Despite all attempts to free her including off loading the cargo with help of natives the ship was lost.
Columbus turned the disaster to something in his favor and claimed Divine intervention. Always on the lookout for future endeavors he used the ships timbers to build a fort, La Navidad, and he left 39 of his men there to man it as the other two ships returned to Spain. In effect, he created the necessity of a rescue mission because he feared his future voyages would not be sponsored by the Spanish crown. His fear was based on the fact that he had not found what he had promised to find; the riches of China.
On his return he found that all the men had perished although their exact fate was hard to determine. Some had obviously been killed by the natives but the reason was never known. One can guess.
Great book, highly recommended.
