An underwater investigator from the U.S. by the name of Barry Clifford believes that he has spotted the submerged hulk of Christopher Columbus’ Santa Maria ship, which sank during the Spanish explorer’s notorious voyage to the Caribbean in 1492.

Clifford zeroed in on the possible site of the Santa Maria based on previous clues linking the wreck to a makeshift fort Columbus had ordered his crew to erect after the ship hit a reef during the expedition, according to the BBC:

Mr Clifford said he identified the potential location of the Santa Maria through earlier archaeological findings that pinpointed a likely location for Columbus’s fort – a building that experts always thought was erected near to where the ship ran aground.

He also used information from the explorer’s diary, and a recent diving mission near the site further burnished Mr Clifford’s belief the wreck was the Santa Maria.

Mr Clifford told US broadcaster CNN the “smoking gun” was a cannon of 15th Century design found at the site.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a real find without a television network to document the discovery, and this time, the History Channel will be on the scene as Clifford and his team probe the wreckage.

–Posted by Kasia Anderson