Le Griffon, the French slave ship, sailed much faster that the Spanish ships. With a lead far out in front of the rest of the fleet, the French ship was unaware of a hurricane forming along present day Florida. The French ship, returned to Spain announcing that the other ships were to arrive soon. The rest of the fleet, moving slower, were caught in the hurricane. In a desperate attempt to save ships and their precious cargo, the captains were able to run six of the ships into shore. This desperate move gave the Spanish the ability to salvage them for nearly two years. Once they were able to recover as much as they could, the ships were then burned down to water line, then salvaged further by local tribes. Five of the remaining Spanish ships were unable to make it to shore and until modern day, were considered lost forever.