Events That Changed the World: the Death of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell
As time passes, events that once changed the course of human events begin to fade in the public’s memory. The determination of longitude was the direct result of a tragic night in 1707, and this is a brief description of what happened.
The Association struck the rocks of Gilstone Ledges on the Scilly Isles Ð well west of where Admiral Shovell believed his position to be. The Association lit lanterns to indicate her precarious position as she struck the rocks, then a short time later, nothing more of her could be seen. The seas had buffeted the wounded vessel until she disappeared beneath the waves. Two more ships followed her with the same chilling result. Ironically, very few sailors of that period had the ability to swim, otherwise the death toll might have been much less. On that horrible night, 2000 men, Admiral Cloudeley Shovell among them, lost their lives due to a simple navigational error. From the three ships, only one man survived. Among the dead were two of Admiral Shovell’s stepsons who had followed their benefactor in hopes of a career in the Navy. Bodies continued to wash onto the shores of the small collection of isles for days afterward, along with the smashed wreckage that once had to belonged to the finest warships afloat. Legend has it that the island’s inhabitants found the bloated body of Admiral Shovell lying washed up on the shore. Some even suggest that the Admiral survived and was beaten to death by a woman who wanted to steal his emerald ring, although this must surely be a fanciful tale at best.
In one terrible evening, Britain paid a nearly unbearable price. 2000 of her finest fighting men, a beloved, courageous leader in the form of Admiral Shovell, and three of Her Majesty’s finest fighting warships were lostÐ not to the French in glorious battle, but to a relatively simple function of mathematics. Queen Anne is said to have been heartbroken at the loss of her gallant Admiral.
In the years following, King George I offered an enormous reward to anyone who could accurately compute longitude, so that such a needless loss never recurs. The development of an accurate timepiece eventually solved the problem and the rest, as they say, is history.
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