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Sinking of
the Royal George
By August 1782 the war has
effectively petered out. But tragedy
strikes, apparently by accident, on the twenty-ninth.
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The Royal George went down in still
water in Spithead in consequence of a great piece of her bottom falling out. From entry in Old DNB for John
Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich. |
The "bottom falling
out" story is a popular myth, apparently based on evidence given to the
subsequent court martial by Admiral Milbanke and Captain Jervis.
An official investigation will
later find that a sudden squall heeled the ship over.
Neither version squares with a
document held in the National Maritime Museum, purporting to be an eye-witness
account "by James Ingram, aged 25".
Written several weeks after the event, it still rings true.
All accounts agree that the
tragedy starts with the ship being careened to larboard (port): she is made to
list by moving the starboard-side cannon towards the centre of the ship, and
the larboard-side guns towards the edge.
The purpose of this exercise is to ease access to an outside water-cock
that needs replacing on the starboard side.
Ingram is quite sure that the
job should have been done earlier, while the ship was higher in the water. Provisions have been loaded over the last
few days, and her gun ports are barely above the surface. As soon as the ship is careened, water
starts to wash in through the larboard ports.
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There being mice in the lower part of the ship, they were hunted by the men, and there had been a rare game going on. From eye-witness account of James Ingram |
Soon matters become more
serious. The influx of water is both
increasing the ship's list and pulling her down. The carpenter takes a message to the lieutenant of the watch: the
ship needs to be righted, please give the order for the guns to be moved back. The message is ignored.
The message is repeated. This time the order is given, but by now the
tilt is too great. Ingram describes how
he and his superior struggle to roll one of the guns up the sloping deck. No use: the slope is rapidly increasing. He lets go of the gun, reaches for the
porthole, and hauls himself through.
Just in time.
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The portholes had gone horizontal and men trying to
escape had nothing to stand on. From eye-witness account of James Ingram |
As he hangs on desperately, the
ship fills with water.
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The air that was between decks drafted out very swiftly. It was quite a huff of wind, and it blew my hat off. From eye-witness account of James Ingram |
She sinks "in a
moment", dragging him down. He
hauls himself to the surface, clings to a barrel that has floated out. He is lucky.
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The ship was full of Jews, women, and people selling all sorts of things. From
eye-witness account of James Ingram |
For the people of Portsmouth and
its surroundings, the impact must be devastating. So many of them have gone down, it is difficult to believe that Henry Cort’s family is untouched by the tragedy.
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Of about fourteen hundred men, women and boys which were on board, no more than 320 were saved... The brave and able veteran Admiral Kempenfelt is among the drowned. From contemporary newspaper reports |
Ingram's account contains one
error. He gives the date as 19
August. All other accounts, including
the Admiralty's minutes, say it was the 29th. The memory plays strange tricks.
After a few weeks, so many vivid
details stick in the mind. But not the
date.
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RELATED TOPICS John Becher and
the American War Thomas Morgan and
the American War |
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