HMS Assurance (1747)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Assurance.
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Assurance
Launched: 1747
Fate: Wrecked, 1753
General characteristics
Armament:44 guns

HMS Assurance was a 44-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1747. She was wrecked off The Needles near the Isle of Wight, England in 1753. The ship remained stuck on the rock long enough for the crew and passengers to escape.[1]

The shipwreck site identified at the Needles contains the remains of two wrecks, thought to be the Assurance and Pomone. The wrecksite was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 4 April 1974. The designation lists the date of sinking as 1738,[2] although research by the John Bingeman (licensee from 1978) from the court martial accounts[3] indicates that the wreck occurred in 1753.

The wrecksite was identified by an Isle of Wight resident, Derek Williams, who became the first licensee. The wreck site includes cannons and other metallic items from the ship.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pritchard, Martin; McDonald, Kendall (1987). Dive Wight and Hampshire. Underwater World Publications. pp. 36–37. ISBN 0-946020-15-9.
  2. ↑ Advisory Committee on Historic Wrecks Report for 1999-2000.
  3. ↑ Lecture by John Bingeman given in 2001.

Coordinates: 50°39′46″N 1°35′14″W / 50.6627°N 1.5873°W