Legend has it that the wreck of a Spanish galleon, laden with gold, lies somewhere in the mud at the bottom of Tobermory Bay—although the ship's true identity, and cargo, are in dispute. By some accounts, the Florencia or Florida, or San Francisco , a member of the defeated Spanish Armada fleeing the English fleet in , anchored in Tobermory to take on provisions. Seventeenth-century efforts to salvage the treasure are well-documented.
In , his son the Earl of Argyll engaged James Maule of Melgum to use diving bells to find treasure, and recover the valuable brass cannon. Maule had learnt diving in Sweden, but raised only two brass guns and an iron cannon, and left after three months. It was later said he had hoped to return, thinking he was the only expert diver.
Argyll however raised six cannon by workmen under his direction, and next employed John Saint Clare, or Sinclair, son of the minister of Ormiston, in and a German sub-contractor Hans Albricht van Treileben, who had worked on the wreck of the Vasa. The next year, the earl transferred the rights to Captain Adolpho E.
Smith and Treileben. At this period the fore-part of the wreck was visible above water, and was called the Admiral of Florence. The project was beset with difficulties in ; the Admiralty disputed Argyll's rights to the wreck.
Captain Adolpho Smith refused to return the diving equipment to William Campbell, captain of the earl's frigate, the Anna of Argyll. The largest attempt made to locate the galleon was in when the then Duke of Argyll signed a contract with the British Admiralty to locate the galleon. Nothing came of the attempt, apart from the development of equipment still used today to locate ancient sunk vessels. This namesake town has twin harbours, known locally as "Big Tub" and "Little Tub", which sheltered ships from the severe storms of Lake Huron.
