One of the great mythologies of the Conquest of Mexico is Cortes burning, or sinking his ships in order to secure his men’s commitment to the march to Tenochtitlan and Moctezuma. The incident is cited in motivational speeches, and among historians as one of history’s greatest gambles. With dissent in the ranks and factions pushing for different goals and loyalties Cortes did seem to at least dismantle some of the ships, and possibly did sink a few.
It is reported he came to Mexico with 11 vessels. One ship was sent back to Spain with the first load of treasure and a few letters. The sources give several versions of the incident. Cortes, Diaz and Gomara all tend to agree that the main motivation was to halt the ambitions of the faction loyal to Diego Velazquez, which planned to return to Cuba and report Cortes’s illegal activity (he left Cuba against orders, and exceeded the mandate of the mission given to him). It certainly would behoove Cortes and his loyalists to cut off their exit or stymie any support they may have been able to muster.
Cortes states in a letter to Charles that he beached the boats. Bernal Diaz, writing some 50 years after the event said a group of men discussed it with Cortes and agreed to scuttle the ships. According to Diaz the important pieces were ordered removed, including “anchors, cables, sails.” Gomara, who was writing second-hand from Cortes, agrees with Diaz in that it was a group decision among the Cortes loyalists. Gomara goes on to say they beached five and sunk four. In his writing, conquistador Andres de Tapia said they scuttled six or seven ships. The former conquistador who became a priest, Francisco de Aguilar, said Cortes secretly sent someone back to the boats to drill holes. The remaining ship was sent to Spain, he notes.
It is clear that Cortes at least dismantled, or decommissioned the ships and ordered the vital parts brought ashore before destroying anything. He also had Martin Lopez with him, a ship builder. Acquiring new timber would not be difficult. Cortes did eventually have boats made to sail on Lake Texcoco and take part in the final Siege of Tenochtitlan. The dramatic reading of this event is that Cortes “burned his ships.” A more practical reading is that he stripped them of anything remotely useful with the intent of rebuilding them. The motive to dissuade Velazquez’s loyal men from returning to Cuba seems reasonable.
ARCHEOLOGY: In 2019 archeologists found an anchor off the location of Cortes’s early headquarters, Villa Rica. They suggest it could be from one of his ships, although sources say they brought anchors ashore.