How did a shipwreck double the size of the United States?
Fisherman Jerry Murphy and his crew snagged something unexpected while trawling the Gulf of Mexico one afternoon in 1993. At first glance, the fishing net appeared weighted down with rock and debris. Upon closer inspection, some of those rocks were actually piles of silver coins, which had fused together while underwater. Realizing that he may have stumbled onto a deep sea treasure trove, Murphy dialed up his lawyer to attain rights to the booty, then contacted maritime history experts to determine the source of the coins [source: McConnaughey]. A year later, researchers concluded that Murphy’s discovery — which occurred, ironically, in a boat named Mistake — was the ruins of a warship called El Cazador, or “The Hunter,” that disappeared at sea in 1784. El Cazador set out from Veracruz, Mex
