Fate
On 4 March 1807, Blanche was wrecked whilst cruising off Ushant. Forty-five of her crew were lost, of whom 20 were marines. All of the officers were saved, as were 180 seamen and 25 marines. The French marched the survivors 30 miles to Brest, where they were housed in the naval hospital. The crew would remain prisoners for seven years until Napoleon's abdication. The court martial on 2 June 1814 honourably acquitted Lavie and his officers of the loss of Blanche. The court found that iron stanchions, cranks and arms under the half-deck had affected her compasses. This in turn had caused her navigation to be faulty.
Read more about this topic: HMS Amfitrite (1804)
Famous quotes containing the word fate:
“Fate forces its way to the powerful and violent. With subservient obedience it will assume for years dependency on one individual: Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, because it loves the elemental human being who grows to resemble it, the intangible element. Sometimes, and these are the most astonishing moments in world history, the thread of fate falls into the hands of a complete nobody but only for a twitching minute.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“The fate of the State decides theirs: clauses of treaties determine their affections.”
—Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)
“Such is the miraculous nature of the future of exiles: what is first uttered in the impotence of an overheated apartment becomes the fate of nations.”
—Salman Rushdie (b. 1948)