Archaeonautica - Année 1998 - Volume 14 - Numéro 1 - Pages 237-241The wreck of the San Diego was discovered at the Philippines in 1991, through a magnetometer survey. This spanish «nao», built in Cebu in the south of the Philippines, was lost in december 1600 in a sea battle with Olivier van Noort, a dutch sailor. In 1992 and 1993, two excavation campaigns took place on this site. During the second campaign, the author ο f this paper directed the study of the constructional remains of the wreck. The hull appeared to be well preserved. On the basis of the preliminary results of the study, it is possible to identify the San Diego as one of those famous Manila galleons which for three centuries sailed the spanish trading route between Manila and Acapulco. Therefore, the wreck of the San Diego offered the first insight into the spanish shipbuilding in Asia in the end of the 16th century. 5 pages