A Brief History
On October 22, 1707, four ships of the Royal Navy ran aground and sank near the Isles of Scilly near Cornwall in Great Britain. All four ships were lost with almost all hands, 1,550 (estimate) British sailors went to Davey Jones’s Locker that fateful day, including the fleet commander, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell. Only 13 of the sailors survived.
Digging Deeper
Before we go any further, we have to seriously ask, “What kind of jerk names their kid ‘Cloudesley?’” You would have to home school the poor lad because other kids would brutalize him over that goofy name. Anyway…
Shovell had led a fleet to the Mediterranean to support the attack on the French port of Toulon, an attempt to lay siege to and take over the port. Despite having some success against French ships, the overall campaign was a failure and the Admiralty ordered the fleet home.
Upon the approach to Great Britain, the weather was rough and navigation was difficult, resulting in miscalculations that caused the ships to run aground. The total fleet under Shovell’s command consisted of 15 ships and 4 fireships, and the 4 that were lost included HMS Association (90 guns, 2nd rate ship), HMS Eagle (70 guns, 3rd rate ship), HMS Romney (50 guns, 4th rate ship), and HMS Firebrand (a fireship). Other ships also ran aground and were damaged, but survived.
Shovell’s body was recovered and was buried at Westminster Abbey, but legend had it that he was alive when he washed ashore, and was killed by an island woman for his emerald ring. Another myth told about the incident is that a sailor who hailed from the Isles of Scilly tried to warn the Admiral of the danger, but was hanged for having the temerity to question his superiors. Both stories are apparently false.
Whether in combat or not, sailing the seas is a dangerous activity, more so then, but even today. Naval analysts have debated the cause of the wrecks as either a mistake in calculating longitude or in latitude. The wrecks of the 4 ships were discovered in 1967, and in 2000 a television film was made of the incident, called Longitude.
The 300th anniversary of the event was celebrated in 2007, with various ceremonies and events in the Islands. At least Shovell did not live to answer for his mistake.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Have you ever been in a naval disaster?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Sturridge, Charles, dir. Longitude. A&E Home Video, 2000. DVD.
