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Sir Cloudesley Shovell's Fleet

Isles of Scilly

A fleet that lost its way, and the disaster that led to the longitude prize.

On a stormy night in October 1707, a British fleet returning from the Mediterranean ran onto the rocks of the Isles of Scilly. Four ships sank, including the flagship HMS Association, and around 1,400 men died, including Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell.

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When
22 October 1707
Where
49.8700, -6.4500
Group
Shipwrecks

Visiting

Boat trips from St Mary's pass the Gilstone Ledges. The Isles of Scilly Museum has finds.

Cover of Blood and Gold by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

Blood and Gold

Sixteen true stories of mutiny, mercy, treasure and the gallows from the Golden Age of Piracy: Henry Every, Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts, Edward England, Howell Davis, Christopher Moody, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Calico Jack, Edward Low, Captain William Kidd and Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy. Where the record is uncertain, the book says so.

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