The War of the Spanish Succession had been grinding on for a decade by the summer of 1711, and Spain's treasury was bleeding. The treasure fleets that carried gold and silver from South America to fund the war effort had become prime targets for both the British and their Dutch allies. To protect the latest shipment, Spain turned to its French allies. In late May 1711, Admiral Jean-Baptiste du Casse arrived at Cartagena de Indias with a squadron of warships. On August 3, du Casse sailed from Cartagena escorting the treasure fleet bound for Spain. The escort was modest: the 64-gun San Joaquin under Admiral Miguel Augustin de Villanueva, du Casse's own 70-gun Saint-Michel, the 60-gun Hercule, and the 44-gun frigate Griffon. It was not a fleet built for fighting. It was built for running.

Waiting for them was British Commodore James Littleton, who had sailed from Port Royal, Jamaica, on July 26 with a squadron of warships, including vessels under captains Francis Hosier, Edward Vernon, and Richard Lestock, names that would echo through Caribbean naval history for decades. Littleton's ships spotted the Spanish-French fleet on the day it left Cartagena, but a storm scattered both forces before any action could begin. Most of du Casse's ships, including du Casse himself, turned back to Cartagena without bothering to inform Admiral Villanueva. On August 7, the San Joaquin found herself separated from the fleet with only a single smaller vessel for company. When sails appeared on the horizon, Villanueva assumed du Casse had returned. He was wrong. The approaching ships belonged to Littleton.

By the time Villanueva recognized his error, escape was impossible. Rather than strike his colors without a fight, the admiral chose to engage Littleton's entire squadron with his single galleon. It was brave and it was hopeless. The British ships closed rapidly, surrounding the San Joaquin and pouring broadside after broadside into her hull and rigging. Within twenty minutes, the galleon was dismasted and had suffered devastating casualties. Villanueva himself, standing on his quarterdeck amid the wreckage, was struck by a musket ball. Mortally wounded, the admiral ordered his flag struck. Littleton boarded from the Salisbury and took the surrender. Captain Edward Vernon, meanwhile, chased down and captured the smaller Spanish vessel as it tried to flee. The San Joaquin's treasure was divided among the British captains, and the squadron sailed back to Port Royal.

Du Casse learned of the San Joaquin's capture three days later. Knowing the treasure was lost, he departed Cartagena and sent his remaining ships first to Martinique, then to Pensacola, and finally to Spain, where they arrived safely but emptyhanded. King Philip V had ordered the treasure transferred to French ships before the fleet sailed, a precaution that might have saved it had the storm not intervened. The San Joaquin's capture was a painful blow, but it was the ship's sister that would become legend. The San Jose, sunk during Wager's Action in 1708 with an estimated cargo worth billions in modern currency, was located on the seafloor off Colombia in 2015. The San Joaquin survived that earlier battle, only to fall three years later in waters just miles away. Both ships carried the wealth of an empire. One lies on the ocean floor; the other's treasure was counted out on a dock in Jamaica.