Title
Romney, H.M.S.
Subject
Warship
Shipwreck
Wreck
Description
H.M.S Romney was one of the four Naval warships that made up the Scilly Naval disaster of 1707.
On October 22nd 1707, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, and some 2,000 officers and men of the Royal Navy met their deaths when H.M.S Association, Eagle, Romney, and Firebrand all struck the same area and went down.
The Association and the Firebrand were lost on the Gilstone, the Romney sinking on the Crebinicks and the Eagle on the Crims.
Returning to Portsmouth after a successful campaign in the Mediterranean, these ships were part of a fleet of twenty-one vessels, half of which were of seventy guns or more. They left Gibraltar on October 1st 1707, but a week later, after encountering gales from all points of the compass, they were hopelessly lost. So much so that the admiral called a meeting of the sailing-masters in order to hear their various opinions as to the fleet's position. Between them, it was generally agreed that the ships lay at the mouth of the English Channel, well south of the Scillies and due west of Ushant.
Only one voice, that of Sir William Jumper, H.M.S Lennox, was raised in protest. He insisted that in three hours they would sight Scilly, but a majority decision was accepted and the fleet sailed on, only now the flagship Association was in the van, the lead ships La Valeur, Lennox, and Phoenix having been despatched to Falmouth for convoy duties.
The great ships lumbered on, all unaware of the dangers that lay ahead. At 8 o'clock on the evening of the 22nd October, the flagship plunged straight on to the Gilstone Ledges and sank almost immediately with the greater part of her crew. She was followed closely by the others, and in quick succession the Eagle, Romney, and Firebrand all struck and went under.
Of the 2,000 men aboard the wrecked ships, only twenty-six were reported as surviving. There may, in fact, have been others, since the majority of men in service were 'pressed' and would probably have seized such a heaven-sent opportunity to desert, although the advantages of desertion on eighteenth-century Scilly are doubtful and hanging would have been the punishment if they were caught.
The body of Sir Cloudesley was founded washed ashore at Porth Hellick, a sandy bay on the south side of St. Marys, about seven miles from the scene of the wrecks. He was said to have been alive when found, and murdered for his valuable rings he wore, his hands being mutilated in order to remove the jewellery, after which the naked body was buried on the foreshore. Later, he was exhumed, identified, and taken to Westminster where Queen Anne ordered a state funeral.
Description of wreck by Richard Larn, Cornish Shipwrecks: Isles of Scilly (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1971), p.42-45.
On October 22nd 1707, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, and some 2,000 officers and men of the Royal Navy met their deaths when H.M.S Association, Eagle, Romney, and Firebrand all struck the same area and went down.
The Association and the Firebrand were lost on the Gilstone, the Romney sinking on the Crebinicks and the Eagle on the Crims.
Returning to Portsmouth after a successful campaign in the Mediterranean, these ships were part of a fleet of twenty-one vessels, half of which were of seventy guns or more. They left Gibraltar on October 1st 1707, but a week later, after encountering gales from all points of the compass, they were hopelessly lost. So much so that the admiral called a meeting of the sailing-masters in order to hear their various opinions as to the fleet's position. Between them, it was generally agreed that the ships lay at the mouth of the English Channel, well south of the Scillies and due west of Ushant.
Only one voice, that of Sir William Jumper, H.M.S Lennox, was raised in protest. He insisted that in three hours they would sight Scilly, but a majority decision was accepted and the fleet sailed on, only now the flagship Association was in the van, the lead ships La Valeur, Lennox, and Phoenix having been despatched to Falmouth for convoy duties.
The great ships lumbered on, all unaware of the dangers that lay ahead. At 8 o'clock on the evening of the 22nd October, the flagship plunged straight on to the Gilstone Ledges and sank almost immediately with the greater part of her crew. She was followed closely by the others, and in quick succession the Eagle, Romney, and Firebrand all struck and went under.
Of the 2,000 men aboard the wrecked ships, only twenty-six were reported as surviving. There may, in fact, have been others, since the majority of men in service were 'pressed' and would probably have seized such a heaven-sent opportunity to desert, although the advantages of desertion on eighteenth-century Scilly are doubtful and hanging would have been the punishment if they were caught.
The body of Sir Cloudesley was founded washed ashore at Porth Hellick, a sandy bay on the south side of St. Marys, about seven miles from the scene of the wrecks. He was said to have been alive when found, and murdered for his valuable rings he wore, his hands being mutilated in order to remove the jewellery, after which the naked body was buried on the foreshore. Later, he was exhumed, identified, and taken to Westminster where Queen Anne ordered a state funeral.
Description of wreck by Richard Larn, Cornish Shipwrecks: Isles of Scilly (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1971), p.42-45.
Date
1707-10-22
Rights
Morrab Library
Identifier
COLLINS.167
Coverage
Isles of Scilly