Thirteen Ships Lost in The Royal Navy
The Royal Navy was badly affected, losing thirteen ships, and upwards of fifteen hundred seamen drowned.
- The third rate Restoration was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands; of the ship's company of 387 not one was saved.
- The third rate Northumberland was lost on the Goodwin Sands; all 220 men, including 24 marines were killed.
- The third rate Stirling Castle was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands. Seventy men, including four marine officers, were saved, but 206 men were drowned.
- The fourth rate Mary was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands. The captain and the purser were ashore, but Rear Admiral Beaumont and 268 other men were drowned. Only one man, whose name was Thomas Atkins, was saved. His escape was very remarkable - having first seen the rear admiral get onto a piece of her quarter-deck when the ship was breaking up, and then get washed off again, Atkins was tossed by a wave into the Stirling Castle, which sank soon after. From the Stirling Castle he was swept into a boat by a wave, and was rescued.
- The fifth rate Mortar-bomb was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands and her entire company of 65 were lost.
- The sixth rate advice boat Eagle was lost on the coast of Sussex, but her ship's company of 45 were all saved.
- The third rate Resolution was lost on the coast of Sussex; all her ship's company of 221 were saved.
- The fifth rate Litchfield Prize was wrecked on the coast of Sussex; all 108 on board were saved.
- The fourth rate Newcastle was lost at Spithead. The carpenter and 39 men were saved, and the other 193 were drowned.
- The fifth rate fire-ship Vesuvius was lost at Spithead; all 48 of her ship's company were saved.
- The fourth rate Reserve was lost by foundering off Yarmouth. The captain, the surgeon, the clerk, and 44 men were saved; the other 175 members of the crew were drowned.
- The second rate Vanguard was sunk in Chatham harbour. She was not manned and had no armament fitted; the following year she was raised for rebuilding.
- The fourth rate York was lost at Harwich; all but four of her men were saved.
Lamb (1991) claimed 10,000 seamen were lost in one night, a far higher figure, about 1/3 of all the seamen in the British Navy. Shrewsbury narrowly escaped a similar fate. Over 40 merchant ships were lost.
Read more about this topic: Great Storm Of 1703
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“The Royal Navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence and ornament; it is its ancient and natural strength; the floating bulwark of the island.”
—William Blackstone (1723–1780)
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“Haven’t you heard, though,
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Through opening clouds at night with droning speed
Further o’erhead than all but stars and angels
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—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
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On utmost Kilda’s shore, whose lonely race
Resign the setting sun to Indian worlds,
The royal eagle draws his vigorous young”
—James Thomson (1700–1748)
“People run away from the name subsidy. It is a subsidy. I am not afraid to call it so. It is paid for the purpose of giving a merchant marine to the whole country so that the trade of the whole country will be benefitted thereby, and the men running the ships will of course make a reasonable profit.... Unless we have a merchant marine, our navy if called upon for offensive or defensive work is going to be most defective.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)