HMS ''Stirling Castle'' was a 70-gun

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

built at

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and man ...

, in 1678/79. She was in active commission for the War of the English Succession, fighting in the Battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur. HMS Stirling Castle underwent a rebuild at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

in 1699. She was in the Cadiz operation in 1702. The ship was wrecked on the

Goodwin Sands Goodwin Sands is a sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying off the Deal, Kent, Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately depth of fine sand resting on an Chalk, Upper Chalk platform belonging to ...

off

Deal In cryptography, DEAL (Data Encryption Algorithm with Larger blocks) is a symmetric block cipher derived from the Data Encryption Standard (DES). Its design was presented by Lars Knudsen at the SAC conference in 1997, and submitted as a proposa ...

on 27 November 1703. The remains are now a Protected Wreck managed by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. She was the first vessel to bear the name ''Stirling Castle'' in the English and Royal Navy. HMS Stirling Castle was awarded the Battle Honour Barfleur 1692.Thomas (1998), Battle and Campaign Honours, Section B, Barfleur

Construction and specifications

HMS Stirling Castle was ordered on 9 July 1678 to be built at

under the guidance of Master Shipwright John Shish. Construction completed, the vessel was launched on 29 July 1679. Her dimensions were a gundeck of with a keel of for tonnage calculation with a breadth of and a depth of hold of . Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 1,059 tons ( burthen). The ship's draught was .Winfield (2009), Ch 3, Vessels Acquired from 2 May 1660, 1677 Programme, Second Batch (1678 Orders), Stirling CastleLavery, Ships of the Line Vol. 1, p. 162 HMS Stirling Castle's initial gun armament was in accordance with the 1677 Establishment with 72/60 guns consisting of twenty-six demi-cannons (54 cwt, 9.5 ft) on the lower deck, twenty-six 12-pounder guns (32 cwt, 9 ft) on the upper deck, ten sakers (16 cwt, 7 ft) on the quarterdeck and four sakers (16 cwt, 7 ft) on the foc's'le with four 3-pounder guns (5 cwt, 5 ft) on the poop deck or roundhouse. By 1688, she would carry 70 guns as per the 1685 Establishment. Her initial manning establishment would be for a crew of 460/380/300 personnel.

Commissioned service

Service 1679-1699

She was commissioned in 1690 under Captain Anthony Hastings. She fought in the Battle of Beachy Head in Centre (Red) Squadron on 30 June 1690. In 1691 Captain Benjamin Walters was in command. She was in the Battle of Barfleur as a member of Rear (Blue) Squadron, Rear Division between 19 and 22 May 1692. She also partook in the Battles off Cherbourg and La Hogue on 23 and 24 May 1692. Captain Humphrey Sanders was in command in 1693 with the Channel Fleet. In 1695 she was under Captain Robert Deane sailing with Lord Berkeley's operations. In 1696 she was sailing in the Soundings. In 1697 she was under the command of Captain Jedediah Barker operating with the Dunkirk Squadron. She would be rebuilt at Chatham in 1699.

Rebuilt at Chatham Dockyard 1699

She was ordered rebuilt at

under the guidance of Master Shipwright Daniel Furzer. She was launched/completed in 1699. Her dimensions were a gundeck of with a keel of for tonnage calculation with a breadth of and a depth of hold of . Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 1,087 tons ( burthen). She probably retained her armament as stated in the 1685 Establishment, though it is unclear if her armament was changed to the 1703 Establishment later. It is known that when completed her gun armament total at least 70 guns.Winfield 2009, Chapter 3, Vessels Acquired from 18 December 1688, Rebuildings of 1697-1704, 70-gins, Group 2 (all by dockyard), Stirling CastleLavery, Ships of the Line Vol. 1, p. 166

Service 1701-1703

HMS ''Stirling Castle'' was commissioned in 1701 under the command of Captain John Johnson for service in Sir George Rooke's Fleet for operations at Cadiz, Spain. They sailed from Spithead to St Helens (in the Scilly Islands) on 19 July 1702. The arrived at the Bay of Bulls (six miles north of Cadiz) on 12 August. After many conferences and negotiations, the stores that had been seized were destroyed and the troops were re-embarked on 15 September. On 19 September it was decided to return to England. On 21 September it was learned that a French Fleet and Spanish treasure ships were in the vicinity of Vigo Bay. On the 11th a council of war was held to determine the ships that would initially enter the bay. HMS Stirling Castle was not chosen and remained off the entrance of the Bay of Vigo. She was the Flagship of Sir John Leake in December 1702. Captain Josiah Crow took temporary command in July 1703. By November Captain Johnson was back in command.

Loss

During the Great Storm of 26/27 November 1703, she was lost on the Goodwin Sands. Captain John Johnson perished with his ship. There were 70 survivors from her 349 crew. It is most likely that ''Stirling Castle'' was moored with two anchors, her best bower and small bower, each on a single cable. Some reports suggest that dragged her own anchor across those of ''Stirling Castle''. Whatever the circumstances, ''Stirling Castle''s anchors did not hold and she was blown towards the Goodwin Sands, grounding at high tide. In the time available, the crew, working in a wind so strong that a man could not stand in it, managed to get the spare anchor deployed. Though it did not stop the ship dragging, it held her bow into the storm. There was no time to get the heavier sheet anchor over the side before she struck. The spare anchor has been discovered during the archaeological investigation of the wreck. It's position suggests that it prevented the ship from turning broadside to the waves and being rapidly destroyed by breaking waves, as happened to others lost on the sands in the same storm. Instead, survivors found some safety in the stern as the ship settled into the sands. They had to endure two nights on the wreck before rescuers from

were able to get out to them, launching their boats from the exposed beach and crossing five miles of rough seas.

Wreck

Local recreational divers found the wreck in 1979 following a movement of the surrounding sand. The wreck lies in of water near the North Sand Head, Goodwin Knoll. The ship was in a remarkable state of preservation, possibly uncovered for the first time since she sank, and numerous artefacts were recovered in 1979-80. Most are held by

Ramsgate Maritime Museum Ramsgate Maritime Museum (or Clock House Museum) is a museum in Ramsgate, Kent, England, that describes the maritime history of East Kent. The museum is situated in the Clock House on the quayside of the Royal Harbour at Ramsgate. Ramsgate Ma ...

but some were first displayed at Bleak House in

Broadstairs Broadstairs () is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 ...

while it was still a museum, and then moved to the Deal Maritime Museum. A few artefacts have been recovered since, but the wreck was already being covered by fresh sediment in 1981. The ship re-emerged from the sand in 1998. Scouring of the sand supporting the stern and port quarter led to their partial collapse in the winter of 1999–2000, and the structure has been further destabilised since then. In 2000 a team of divers successfully recovered a

Demi-cannon The demi-cannon was a medium-sized cannon, similar to but slightly larger than a culverin and smaller than a regular cannon, developed in the early 17th century. A full cannon fired a 42-pound shot, but these were discontinued in the 18th centur ...

, complete with its original gun carriage from the site. This "Rupertino" gun designed by the king's nephew

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

, was one of eight delivered by the gun maker Thomas Westerne in 1690. The gun fired shot. In 2002 a wooden fixed block was recovered that may provide evidence on the introduction of the ship's

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel, a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and hea ...

, possibly during the refit of 1701. Other evidence is the presence of large s at the ship's side in the , which would be part of the same routing of steering ropes to the tiller. Richard Endsor has argued that the ship had both a steering wheel and the older whipstaff, thus ''Stirling Castle'' provides important evidence for the transition between these two mechanisms. It suggests that the whipstaff was still seen as a useful steering device which continued to be used under certain circumstances even when a wheel was also fitted. HMS ''Stirling Castle'' was designated under the

Protection of Wrecks Act The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides protection for designated shipwrecks. Section 1 of the act provides for wrecks to be designated because of historical, archaeological o ...

on 6 June 1980 by Statutory Instrument 1980/645. The position was updated by SI 1980/1306 the same year. SI 2004/2395 in 2004 redesignated the protected area from a radius of 50 m to 300 around 51° 16.4561' N, 01° 30.4121' E. The wreck has the National Monuments Record number of TR45NW24. In 1980 the wreck was bought from the Ministry of Defence by the Isle of Thanet Archaeological Unit (now the Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society), and in 1982 the Society sold 64 shares in the ''Stirling Castle'' to raise funds. The archive of the Stirling Castle is dispersed over several repositories and is in various stages of preservation. In 2016

published a report on the conservation work carried out on some of the surface recovered material from the wreck site.

In popular culture

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...

alleged that hundreds of sailors escaped onto sandbanks exposed at low tide, but the people of Deal were so busy salvaging goods after the storm that they left the survivors to drown. This unfounded allegation incensed the citizens of Deal, whose Mayor had organised volunteers to go out to save men from the wreck, so they brought a libel action against Defoe. The Mayor had found himself liable for the maintenance of the survivors of the storm and their coach fares to London (for which he was eventually repaid by the Crown), as well as the burial expenses of those whose bodies were recovered. She was featured on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary series ''

Wreck Detectives Wreck Detectives is the title of two TV documentary series from UK Channel 4 aired in 2003 and 2004 presented by Jeremy Seal, Miranda Krestovnikoff and David Manley. Series 1 – 2003 #Alum Bay wreck, Alum Bay # Earl of Abergavenny, Weymou ...

'' in 2003.

Notes

References

* Colledge (2020), Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, (EPUB), Section L (Lenox) * Winfield (2009), British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB * Winfield (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail (1714 – 1792). by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2007, EPUB * Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. * Clowes (1898), The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to the Present (Vol. II). London. England: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, © 1898 * Clowes (1898), The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to the Present (Vol. III). London. England: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, © 1898 * Thomas (1998), Battles and Honours of the Royal Navy, by David A. Thomas, first published in Great Britain by Leo Cooper 1998, Copyright © David A. Thomas 1998, (EPUB)

External links

Wreck Detectives, Channel 4
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling Castle (1679) Protected wrecks of England Shipwrecks in the Downs Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Maritime incidents in 1703 1670s ships History of Kent Ships built in England 1703 in England