HMS Guardian (1784)
Encyclopedia
HMS Guardian was a 44-gun Roebuck-class
fifth-rate
two-decker of the Royal Navy
, later converted to carry stores. She was completed too late to take part in the American War of Independence, and instead spent several years laid up in ordinary
, before finally entering service as a store and convict transport to Australia, under Lieutenant Edward Riou
. Riou sailed the Guardian, loaded with provisions, animals, convicts and their overseers, to the Cape of Good Hope
where he took on more supplies. Nearly two weeks after his departure on the second leg of the journey, an iceberg
was sighted and Riou sent boats to collect ice to replenish his water supplies. Before he could complete the re-provisioning, a sudden change in the weather obscured the iceberg, and the Guardian collided with it while trying to pull away. She was badly damaged and in immediate danger of sinking. The crew made frantic repair attempts but to no apparent avail. Riou eventually allowed most of the crew to take to the Guardians boats, but refused to leave his ship. Eventually through continuous work he and the remaining crew were able to navigate the ship, by now reduced to little more than a raft, back to the Cape, a nine week voyage described as 'almost unparalleled'. Riou ran the Guardian aground to prevent her sinking, but shortly afterwards a hurricane struck the coast, wrecking her. The remains were sold the next year, in 1790.
on 11 August 1780 and was laid down in December that year. Guardian was launched on 23 March 1784, too late to see service in the American War of Independence and was instead fitted out at Deptford Dockyard for ordinary. The builder was paid £12,322.12.11d for her construction, with the Admiralty paying another £4,420 to fit her out. After five years spent laid up she was fitted out at Woolwich
in 1789 to serve as a store and convict transport, commissioning under Lieutenant Edward Riou
in April.
. Also aboard the Guardian was a young midshipman named Thomas Pitt
, the son of politician Thomas Pitt
, and nephew of Prime Minister
William Pitt
.
With over 300 people aboard his ship, Riou left Spithead
on 8 September, and had an uneventful voyage to the Cape of Good Hope
, where he arrived on 24 November and loaded more livestock and plants. After competing his re-provisioning Riou sailed from the Cape in mid-December, and picking up the Westerlies
began the second leg of his voyage to New South Wales
. On Christmas Eve
, twelve days and 1,300 statute miles (2100 km) after his departure from the Cape, a large iceberg
was spotted at , and Riou decided to use the ice to replenish his stocks of fresh water, that were quickly being depleted by the need to supply the plants and animals he was transporting.
Now clear of the immediate danger of the ice, Riou found himself in a desperate situation. There was two feet of water in the hold and more was rushing in, while the sea was rising and a gale had sprung up. The pumps were manned, but could not keep up with the ingress of water, and by midnight there was 6 feet of water in the hold. At dawn on Christmas Day an attempt was made to fother the hull by lowering an oakum
-packed studding sail
over the side to cover the gash in the hull and slow the flooding. This was temporarily successful and by 11 o'clock the pumps had been able to reduce the water to a level of 19 inches. The respite was short-lived, when the sail split under the pressure of the water and the water level began to rise again. At this a number of seaman requested permission to take to the ship's boats. Riou convinced them to stay, but another attempt to fother the hull with another sail failed when the sail immediately ripped.
By nightfall on 25 December the water in the hold had risen to 7 feet, and the ship was rolling violently, allowing water to pour over the ship's side. Riou ordered the stores, guns and livestock to be thrown overboard in an attempt to lighten the ship, but was injured when his hand was crushed by a falling cask while trying to clear the bread-room. By morning the next day the ship was settling by the stern, while the sails had been torn away in the gale. Again the seamen, this time joined by the convicts, requested to be allowed to take to the boats. Riou at last agreed to this, well aware that there were not enough boats for everyone, and announced 'As for me, I have determined to remain in the ship, and shall endeavour to make my presence useful as long as there is any occasion for it.'
Riou gave the note to Mr Clements, the master of the Guardian, who was given command of the launch. A total of 259 people chose to join the five boats, leaving Riou with sixty-two people; himself, three midshipmen, including Thomas Pitt, the surgeon's mate, the boatswain, carpenter, three superintendents of convicts, a daughter of one of the superintendents, thirty seamen and boys and twenty-one convicts. The Guardian was nearly awash by now with 16 feet of water in the hold, but a bumping noise on the deck attracted attention, and on investigation was found to be a number of casks that had broken free and were floating in the hold, trapped under the lower gundeck. Realising that this was providing extra buoyancy Riou had the gun deck hatches sealed and caulked, while another sail was sent under the hull to control the flooding. Having now created a substitute hull out of his deck Riou raised what little sail he could and began the long journey back to land, with the pumps being continuously manned.
For nine weeks Riou and his small crew navigated the Guardian, by now little more than a raft, across the 400 league
s to the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape of Good Hope was sighted on 21 February 1790, and whalers were despatched from Table Bay
to help the battered ship to safety. On 15 March Riou sent a letter from Table Bay expressing his intent to try reach Saldahna Bay, there to moor close to the shore to preserve what he could of the vessel and cargo. The letter also included a list of the 61 men and one woman (Elizabeth Schafer, daughter of one of the Superintendents of Convicts) on board Guardian.
A gale on 12 April drove Guardian on the beach. The wreck was sold on 17 February 1791.
, writing in the Dictionary of National Biography
, described the voyage as 'almost without parallel'. Those who remained with the Guardian were among the few survivors of the accident.
Of the boats sent out on 25 December only the launch, with 15 people survived, having been rescued by a French merchant. The launch had witnessed the sinking of the jolly-boat, before losing contact with the two cutters and the long-boat.
The 21 convicts that survived went on to New South Wales. However, Riou's report of their conduct resulted in 14 of the convicts being pardoned. The remains of the Guardian were sold on 8 February 1791.
as the basis for his novel Desolation Island
.
Roebuck class ship
The Roebuck class ship was a class of twenty 44-gun sailing two-decker warships of the Royal Navy. The class carried two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 9-pounders. This battery enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 285 pounds...
fifth-rate
Fifth-rate
In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:...
two-decker of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, later converted to carry stores. She was completed too late to take part in the American War of Independence, and instead spent several years laid up in ordinary
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
, before finally entering service as a store and convict transport to Australia, under Lieutenant Edward Riou
Edward Riou
Edward Riou was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary Wars under several of the most distinguished naval officers of his age and won fame and honour for two incidents in particular....
. Riou sailed the Guardian, loaded with provisions, animals, convicts and their overseers, to the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
where he took on more supplies. Nearly two weeks after his departure on the second leg of the journey, an iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
was sighted and Riou sent boats to collect ice to replenish his water supplies. Before he could complete the re-provisioning, a sudden change in the weather obscured the iceberg, and the Guardian collided with it while trying to pull away. She was badly damaged and in immediate danger of sinking. The crew made frantic repair attempts but to no apparent avail. Riou eventually allowed most of the crew to take to the Guardians boats, but refused to leave his ship. Eventually through continuous work he and the remaining crew were able to navigate the ship, by now reduced to little more than a raft, back to the Cape, a nine week voyage described as 'almost unparalleled'. Riou ran the Guardian aground to prevent her sinking, but shortly afterwards a hurricane struck the coast, wrecking her. The remains were sold the next year, in 1790.
Construction and commissioning
She was ordered from Robert Batson, LimehouseLimehouse
Limehouse is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Ratcliff to the west and Millwall to the east....
on 11 August 1780 and was laid down in December that year. Guardian was launched on 23 March 1784, too late to see service in the American War of Independence and was instead fitted out at Deptford Dockyard for ordinary. The builder was paid £12,322.12.11d for her construction, with the Admiralty paying another £4,420 to fit her out. After five years spent laid up she was fitted out at Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
in 1789 to serve as a store and convict transport, commissioning under Lieutenant Edward Riou
Edward Riou
Edward Riou was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary Wars under several of the most distinguished naval officers of his age and won fame and honour for two incidents in particular....
in April.
Voyage to Australia
Riou was tasked with delivering the stores consisting of seeds, plants, farm machinery and livestock, with a total value of some £70,000, and convicts to the British settlement at Botany BayBotany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
. Also aboard the Guardian was a young midshipman named Thomas Pitt
Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford
Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford was a British peer, naval officer and wastrel, best known for bedevilling George Vancouver during and after the latter's great voyage of exploration.-Early life:...
, the son of politician Thomas Pitt
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford was a British politician and connoisseur of art.-Early life:He was the son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc , a brother of William Pitt the Elder, and was born and baptised at Boconnoc in Cornwall on 3 March 1737. His mother was Christian, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas...
, and nephew of Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
William Pitt
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...
.
With over 300 people aboard his ship, Riou left Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
on 8 September, and had an uneventful voyage to the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
, where he arrived on 24 November and loaded more livestock and plants. After competing his re-provisioning Riou sailed from the Cape in mid-December, and picking up the Westerlies
Westerlies
The Westerlies, anti-trades, or Prevailing Westerlies, are the prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, blowing from the high pressure area in the horse latitudes towards the poles. These prevailing winds blow from the west to the east, and steer extratropical...
began the second leg of his voyage to New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. On Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, twelve days and 1,300 statute miles (2100 km) after his departure from the Cape, a large iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
was spotted at , and Riou decided to use the ice to replenish his stocks of fresh water, that were quickly being depleted by the need to supply the plants and animals he was transporting.
Riou and the iceberg
Riou positioned himself near the iceberg, and despatched boats to collect the ice. By the time the last boats had been recovered night had fallen, when a sudden fogbank descended, hiding the iceberg from view. Riou found himself in a dangerous situation. Somewhere to leeward lay a large mass of ice, concealed in the darkness and fog. He posted lookouts in the bows and rigging, and began to edge slowly forward. After sometime the danger seemed to be past, and the iceberg left behind, when at 9 o'clock a strange pale glow was reported by the lookout in the bows. Riou ordered the helm to turn hard a starboard, turning into the wind as a wall of ice higher than the ship's masts slid by along the side. It briefly appeared that the danger had been avoided, but as she passed by the Guardian struck an underwater projection with a sudden crash. Caught in a sudden gust of wind the ship reared up and swung about, driving the stern into the ice, smashing away the rudder, shattering her stern frame and tearing a large gash in the hull. Despite the seriousness of the situation Riou remained calm, using the sails to pull clear of the ice, and then taking stock of the damage.Oakum
Oakum is a preparation of tarred fiber used in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships, as well as cast iron plumbing applications...
-packed studding sail
Studding sail
A studding sail or studsail is a sail used to increase the sail area of a square rigged vessel in light winds. Traditionally pronounced stuns'l.It is an extra sail hoisted alongside a square-rigged sail on an extension of its yardarm...
over the side to cover the gash in the hull and slow the flooding. This was temporarily successful and by 11 o'clock the pumps had been able to reduce the water to a level of 19 inches. The respite was short-lived, when the sail split under the pressure of the water and the water level began to rise again. At this a number of seaman requested permission to take to the ship's boats. Riou convinced them to stay, but another attempt to fother the hull with another sail failed when the sail immediately ripped.
By nightfall on 25 December the water in the hold had risen to 7 feet, and the ship was rolling violently, allowing water to pour over the ship's side. Riou ordered the stores, guns and livestock to be thrown overboard in an attempt to lighten the ship, but was injured when his hand was crushed by a falling cask while trying to clear the bread-room. By morning the next day the ship was settling by the stern, while the sails had been torn away in the gale. Again the seamen, this time joined by the convicts, requested to be allowed to take to the boats. Riou at last agreed to this, well aware that there were not enough boats for everyone, and announced 'As for me, I have determined to remain in the ship, and shall endeavour to make my presence useful as long as there is any occasion for it.'
'I have determined to remain in the ship'
While the boats were prepared, Riou wrote a letter to the Secretary to the Admiralty;Riou gave the note to Mr Clements, the master of the Guardian, who was given command of the launch. A total of 259 people chose to join the five boats, leaving Riou with sixty-two people; himself, three midshipmen, including Thomas Pitt, the surgeon's mate, the boatswain, carpenter, three superintendents of convicts, a daughter of one of the superintendents, thirty seamen and boys and twenty-one convicts. The Guardian was nearly awash by now with 16 feet of water in the hold, but a bumping noise on the deck attracted attention, and on investigation was found to be a number of casks that had broken free and were floating in the hold, trapped under the lower gundeck. Realising that this was providing extra buoyancy Riou had the gun deck hatches sealed and caulked, while another sail was sent under the hull to control the flooding. Having now created a substitute hull out of his deck Riou raised what little sail he could and began the long journey back to land, with the pumps being continuously manned.
For nine weeks Riou and his small crew navigated the Guardian, by now little more than a raft, across the 400 league
League (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...
s to the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape of Good Hope was sighted on 21 February 1790, and whalers were despatched from Table Bay
Table Bay
Table Bay is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain.Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this...
to help the battered ship to safety. On 15 March Riou sent a letter from Table Bay expressing his intent to try reach Saldahna Bay, there to moor close to the shore to preserve what he could of the vessel and cargo. The letter also included a list of the 61 men and one woman (Elizabeth Schafer, daughter of one of the Superintendents of Convicts) on board Guardian.
A gale on 12 April drove Guardian on the beach. The wreck was sold on 17 February 1791.
Aftermath
J. K. LaughtonJohn Knox Laughton
Sir John Knox Laughton Kt was a British naval historian and arguably the first to argue for the importance of the subject as an independent field of study...
, writing in the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, described the voyage as 'almost without parallel'. Those who remained with the Guardian were among the few survivors of the accident.
Of the boats sent out on 25 December only the launch, with 15 people survived, having been rescued by a French merchant. The launch had witnessed the sinking of the jolly-boat, before losing contact with the two cutters and the long-boat.
The 21 convicts that survived went on to New South Wales. However, Riou's report of their conduct resulted in 14 of the convicts being pardoned. The remains of the Guardian were sold on 8 February 1791.
Post-script
The loss of the Guardian was used by Patrick O'BrianPatrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
as the basis for his novel Desolation Island
Desolation Island (novel)
Desolation Island is an historical novel by Patrick O'Brian. It is the fifth book in the Aubrey-Maturin series, and is set prior to the War of 1812.-Plot summary:...
.
External links
- The Life of Capt Edward Riou & HMS Guardian, By Sir Robert Burns
- HMS Guardian entry in the Shipwreck database of the South African Heritage Resources AgencySouth African Heritage Resources AgencyThe South African Heritage Resource Agency is the national administrative body responsible for the protection of South Africa's cultural heritage...