Cloudesley Shovell
| Battles/wars |
|
|---|---|
| Other work | MP for the city of Rochester |
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November 1650 – 22 or 23 October 1707) was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and then at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain he fought at the Battle of Bantry Bay during the Williamite War in Ireland.
As a flag officer Shovell commanded a division at the
During the
Along with his naval service, Shovell served as
Early career
Born in
He went to sea as a cabin boy in the care of a paternal relative, Admiral Sir Christopher Myngs, in 1663. After Myngs' death in 1666 he remained at sea in the care of Admiral Sir John Narborough.[5] He set himself to study navigation, and, owing to his able seamanship and brave disposition, became a general favourite and obtained quick promotion.[4] Promoted to midshipman on 22 January 1672, he was assigned to the first-rate HMS Royal Prince, flagship of the Duke of York, and saw action when a combined British and French fleet was surprised and attacked by the Dutch, led by Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, at the Battle of Solebay off the Suffolk coast in May 1672, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.[5]
Promoted to
.png)
Promoted to captain 17 September 1677, Shovell was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Sapphire. He transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Phoenix in April 1679 and returned to HMS Sapphire in May 1679 before transferring to the fifth-rate HMS Nonsuch in July 1680. He returned to HMS Sapphire again in September 1680 and then transferred to the sixth-rate HMS James Galley in April 1681, to the third-rate HMS Anne in April 1687 and to the fourth-rate HMS Dover in April 1688. Throughout this period Shovell was engaged in the defence of Tangier from Salé raiders.[3]
Shovell transferred to the command of the third-rate HMS Edgar in April 1689 and saw action at the Battle of Bantry Bay in May 1689, when a French fleet tried to land troops in Southern Ireland to fight Prince William of Orange during the Williamite War in Ireland. After the battle, Commodore John Ashby and Shovell were knighted. He transferred to the third-rate HMS Monck in October 1689 and ordered to patrol the area between Ireland and the Isles of Scilly. In June 1690 he was commodore of a small squadron, which convoyed King William across St George's Channel to Carrickfergus.[3]
Senior command
Promoted to
Shovell set up residence with his wife at May Place in
War of the Spanish Succession
Promoted to full admiral on 6 May 1702, Shovell brought home the spoils of the French and Spanish fleets, which had been captured by Admiral George Rooke at the Battle of Vigo at an early stage of the War of the Spanish Succession,[4] arriving in England in late 1702. After commanding a fleet dispatched to take troops to Lisbon in Spring 1703, he commanded a squadron which served under Rooke at the capture of Gibraltar in August 1704 and also repulsed the French fleet at the Battle of Málaga later that month. He was appointed a member of the council of the Lord High Admiral (an office vested at that time in Prince George of Denmark) in December 1704, appointed Rear-Admiral of England on 26 December 1704 and promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 13 January 1705.[3][7]
He was elected Member of Parliament for Rochester again in 1705.
While returning with the fleet to England after the campaign at Toulon, Shovell's flagship, the second-rate HMS Association, struck the rocks near the Isles of Scilly at 8 pm on 22 October (2 November, by the modern calendar) 1707. HMS Association went down in three or four minutes, with none of the 800 men that were on board saved,[4] according to sailors watching on the first-rate HMS St George. Four large ships, HMS Association, the third-rate HMS Eagle, the fourth-rate HMS Romney and the fire ship HMS Firebrand all sank.[10]
With nearly 2,000 sailors lost that night, the Scilly naval disaster was recorded as one of the greatest maritime disasters in British history.[10] The cause of the disaster has often been represented as the navigators' inability to accurately calculate their longitude, although no public discussion of the events specifically raising the question of longitude is known, prior to a pamphlet published on the eve of Parliament's vote on the Longitude Act, seven years later.[11][12]
Shovell's body and those of both his stepsons were all found in
Shovell's body was identified by the
Local legend has it that Shovell was alive, at least barely, when he reached the shore of Scilly at Porthellick Cove but was murdered by a woman for the sake of his priceless emerald ring, which had been given to him by a close friend, Captain James Lord Dursley. At that time, the Scillies had a wild and lawless reputation. It is claimed that the murder came to light only some thirty years later when the woman, on her deathbed, confessed to a clergyman to having killed the admiral and produced the stolen ring, which was sent back to Dursley.[3][11] Several historians doubt the murder story as there is no indication that the ring was recovered and the legend stems from a romantic and unverifiable deathbed confession.[16][17]
Another legend alleges that a common sailor on the flagship tried to warn Shovell that the fleet was off course but Shovell had him hanged at the yardarm for inciting mutiny. The story first appeared in the Scilly Isles in 1780, with the common sailor being a Scilly native, who recognized the waters as being close to home but was punished for warning the admiral.[13] While it is possible that a sailor may have debated the vessel's location and feared for its fate (such debates were common upon entering the English Channel, as noted by Samuel Pepys in 1684), the story has been repeatedly discredited by naval scholars, who noted the lack of any evidence in contemporary documents and its fanciful stock conventions and dubious origins.[13] After his death Shovell became a popular British hero.[18]
Family
In 1691 Shovell married Elizabeth Hill, Lady Narborough (1661–1732), the widow of his former commander, Rear Admiral Sir John Narborough. Through her, he had two stepsons (Sir John Narborough, 1st Baronet, and James Narborough), who both entered naval careers and died, aged 23 and 22, at the sinking of HMS Association in October 1707.[13] Shovell and his wife also had two daughters: Elizabeth and Anne. Elizabeth married Lord Romney, whilst Anne married John Blackwood.[8]
In popular media
Actor
References
- ^ "Sir Cloudesley Shovell - Lord of the Manor of Crayford". Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
- ^ Le Fevre and Harding, p. 44
- ^ a b c d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 1014.
- ^ required.)
- ^ Cley next the Sea, St Margaret's parish register, 1538-1662, Baptisms, Marriages, Burials
- ^ a b c d "Shovell, Sir Clowdesley (1650-1707), of Soho Square, London and May Place, Crayford, Kent". History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-902541-55-2
- ^ "Guilfhall Museum". Medway Council. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ a b Sobel, p. 6
- ^ a b Sobel, p. 11–16
- ^ Dunn, Richard (27 October 2014). "The 1707 Isles of Scilly Disaster – Part 2". Board of Longitude Project, Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ a b c d Cooke, James (1883). "Shipwreck of Sir Cloudesley Shovel". Society of Antiquaries. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ "Sir Clowdisley Shovell and The Association". Submerged. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ "Sir Clowdisley Shovell's tomb and memorial in Westminster Abbey". Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ Powell, p. 333–336
- ^ Pickwell, p. 221–223
- ^ Nicholls, p. 25-30
- ^ "Longitude (1999)". movie-dude.com. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
Sources
- Le Fevre, Peter; Harding, Richard (2000). Precursors of Nelson: British admirals of the eighteenth century. London: Chatham. ISBN 978-0-81172-901-7.
- Nicholls, Mark (2008). Norfolk Maritime Heroes and Legends. Cromer: Poppyland Publishing. ISBN 978-0-946148-85-1.
- Pickwell, J G (1973). "Improbable Legends surrounding the Shipwreck of Sir Clowdisley Shovell". The Mariner's Mirror. 59 (2). London: ISSN 0025-3359.
- Powell, Damer (1957). "The Wreck of Sir Cloudesley Shovell". The Mariner's Mirror. 43. Glasgow: ISSN 0025-3359.
- ISBN 1-85702-571-7.
Further reading
- OCLC 28075391. Archived from the originalon 19 October 2009.
- Harris, Simon (2000). Sir Cloudesley Shovell: Stuart Admiral. Staplehurst: Spellmount. ISBN 1-86227-099-6.
- McBride, Peter; Larn, Richard (1999). Admiral Shovell's Treasure and Shipwreck in the Isles of Scilly. Shipwreck & Marine. ISBN 0-9523971-3-7.
- The Life and Glorious Actions of Sir C. Shovel, Admiral of the Confederate Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, etc. D. Brown. 1707.
External links
- "A Biographical Memoir of Sir Cloudesly Shovel" – Originally printed in the March 1815 issue of The Naval Chronicle
- Cloudesley Shovell Three Decks
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
