Disaster
Evidence suggests that Speedy, unaware that she was in the area now known as the Sophiasburgh Triangle, where poorly quantified magnetic anomalies purportedly exist and prevent proper compass operation, and unable to sail directly into the north-easterly wind because she was a square-rigger, tacked across the mouth of Presqu'ile Bay to avoid Bald Head Island and angle her way into port. Unable to navigate using celestial markers or spot the signal fires due to the storm-induced white outs, the captain was completely reliant on the ship's compass to navigate and struck the mysterious Devil's Horseblock (or Hitching Post), a stone column (pinnacle) that extended up from depths unknown to within a mere 20 cm of the surface.
The area was dragged with hooks in a government-sponsored effort to establish what had actually transpired. It was established that the mysterious monolithic Horseblock shoal had also vanished. Some suggested the 200-ton Speedy was capable of up-ending - of toppling over this unusual formation.
Speedy became the latest of nearly 100 ships The Sophiasburgh Triangle had claimed since the beginning of the 18th century, adding to fears that the area was too dangerous for a major port.
Read more about this topic: HMS Speedy (1798)
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