This is a wreck I found very close to home. Its tight in along the shore at a rocky outcrop called the Drs Keys. As is usual, I found a good few years ago while towing a magnetometer. Its so shallow just 4meters at low tide, that you can see it while snorkelling. Just 3 guns found so far and one anchor. The anchor is so shallow, that you can touch it while snorkelling on the surface. It is right on the very end of the Drs Keys.in just 1 .5 m. I think this is a civil war wreck as a few were lost at St Marys somewhere. Its a good candidate. However Im not sure if the guns look a little later like guns of a George 1st or 2nd period which could point towards the wreck of the Triumph which was lost in1736 but I dont really know for sure as the historical narrative of the loss of the Triumph places her as lost South of the Steval. Maybe the narratives writer, Reverend Troutbeck, misheard the tale which may have been the Steval was south of the wreck. Thin I know but possible as Troutbeck didnt write his book until 60 years after the Triumph was lost. Heres what they are most likely linked to-
After the surrender of Tresco Island to Admiral Blake and the parliamentarian forces on that island in 1651, St Marys Island began to be rendered useless to the Royalists as neither side then had overall command of the main anchorage of St Marys Roads, as shown in a narrative by Sir George Ascue who talks about the benefit to Parliament in the taking of Tresco and Samson in 1651: “The two islands command the road, as well as St Mary’s and the gaining of those two Islands would render St Marys useless to the enemy, besides it would be a speedy means to force St Marys Island to submission…… the men of war belonging to these piratical rocks, will be like mice that run from a falling house, and must be forced to seek a new rendevous. Neither can St Marys exist without them”. Evenso, the Royalists fought on- but with diminishing resolve. Soon after this a Captured Royalist sailor, after questioning aboard Admiral Blakes ship Pheonix, divulged to a Captain Cornelius Evertson, news of the enemy strength on and around St Marys island at that time. This is recorded in the Marinors Mirror: “The Enemies strength to be not above 700 men and probably also that a dejection was spreading among them” The report then went on to show what happened next:- "On the next afternoon a tremendous storm broke, which forced Blakes men of War out to sea, blew down their soldiers tents, and drove ashore as total wrecks two of the enemies best frigates which rode under the hugh hill near their shore to prevent our boats coming in to land there”. All intelligence was passed on to Admiral Blake; who was desperate to take the whole of Scilly back for the Parliament. Only one thing stood in the way of Parliamentarian forces affecting a successful landing on St Marys- and that was the report that the two best ships of the royalist fleet were anchored with their guns covering any vulnerable landing places, ie the beaches which clearly needed more heavily fortifying for obvious reasons. All seemed to be in stalemate in the conflict for control of Scilly at this time but Parliamentarian forces had been sent to retake Scilly, so it was upon them to take the fight from Tresco over to St Marys. However, fortunately for Blake, the severe storm on the 10 th of May which forced his own ships out to sea, was tinged with a silver lining and the possible catalyst which forced the issue; the same storm had also wrecked the two best Royalist vessels which were then reported as ‘riding under the Hew Hill’. (Garrison Hill was once called Hugh Hill or The Hew). This sudden double disasterous loss for the Royalists had tipped the balance in Blakes favour for an invasion of St Marys. It can therefore be argued that this one single wrecking incident spelt the end of Royalist command of Scilly as it is recorded that it- “removed the one last obstacle by sea” -standing in the way of a sea born invasion of St Marys by Admiral Blake. Indeed, shortly after this double wrecking incident occurred, St Marys Garrison did indeed surrender to Admiral Blake. So which Royalist best ships were actually wrecked here? The answer is- we don’t know. Of around a dozen Royalist Warships known to have been here at the time, only a handful have thus far shown up in research. The records show that Blake captured two Royalist ships at New Grimsby. These were the St Michael and the Peter. The St Michael was renamed the Gillyflower and, interestingly, the Peter was renamed the Bryar after being: “captured in Bryher Harbour” So the wrecks were neither of those two ships. A ship named the Royal James also seems to have been operating around Scilly, but this was reported captured in 1654 by the Parliament and renamed the Sorlingues. The Mary, a 24 gun ship that was given to the pirate captain John Mucknell by the Prince of Wales, as a replacement for the loss of the 44 gun ship John in 1645, fled Scilly just before Blake arrived. The Mary was driven ashore at Cartagena by Blake in a later encounter. Another Royalist ship known to be at Scilly at this time was the Crowned lion but she was captured and renamed the Marigold and sold in 1658. All we have to go on is the statement “Best frigates” which means the two wrecked vessels were probably over 20 guns each and/or were relatively new vessels. None of the above ships are recorded as lost at Scilly but there were no doubt other ships in the Royalist fleet as Prince Rupert had sent half his ships here under Vice Admiral John Mucknell to retake and hold Scilly; which they had been doing since 1648. The Royalist ships were more likely to have been foreign. This half of the fleet numbered around a dozen vessels in all but as the Royalists ultimately lost the war, so vast details of their movements and losses etc, went totally unrecorded. Neither is it known on which side of the Hew hill these ships were wrecked but I rather suspect one could well be the remains I have discovered at the Drs Keys; it being originally protecting the landing area between Taylors Island and Rat Island and blown from its anchors into the north side of that rocky out crop. The 3 weapons and 1 anchor I have recorded in very shallow water there (snorkelling depth 2-4meters at low spring tides) is all that remains. However, being in such shallow depth means the wreck must have been heavily salvaged at the time so could heve been a lot bigger. These guns and anchor tell the tale. They are of the correct style to have been from the English Civil period and thus seem to fit the narrative in date and position under the Hew Hill. You can stand on the anchor at low tide.
Gun 3
No comments:
Post a Comment