Sunk:	2 September 1819

San Telmo ("Saint Peter Gonzalez

Peter Gonzalez

Blessed Peter González, O.P., sometimes referred to as Pedro González Telmo, Saint Telmo, or Saint Elmo, was a Spanish Dominican friar and priest, born in 1190 in Astorga, León, Spain....

" or "Saint Erasmus of Formiae

Erasmus of Formiae

Saint Erasmus of Formiae was a Christian saint and martyr who died ca. 303, also known as Saint Elmo. He is venerated as the patron saint of sailors...

") was a Spanish 74-gun ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

, launched in 1788.

In 1819 the San Telmo commanded by Captain Rosendo Porlier was the flagship of a Spanish naval squadron bound for Callao

Callao

Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...

 (Peru) to reinforce colonial forces there fighting the independence movements in Spanish America. Damaged by severe weather in the Drake Passage

Drake Passage

The Drake Passage or Mar de Hoces—Sea of Hoces—is the body of water between the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica...

, south of Cape Horn

Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...

, it sank in September 1819.

The 644 officers, soldiers and seamen lost on board the San Telmo were the first people to die in Antarctica, as parts of her wreckage were found months later by the first sealers who reached Livingston Island. Indeed, if somebody of the San Telmo survived to set foot there he would have been the first man in history to reach Antarctica

History of Antarctica

The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe...

.