HMS Gloucester
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | HMS Gloucester | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | third-rate | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Royal Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | North Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | England | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 5 km from land |
| Position | 52.6000, 1.8100 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The English frigate Gloucester (spelt Glocester by contemporary sources) was a Speaker-class third rate, built for the Navy of the Commonwealth of England. The ship was ordered in December 1652 as part of the unprecedented expansion of the English navy during this period, during which 207 warships, mainly described as frigates, were built. She was named to commemorate the Parliamentary forces' successful defence of the English city of Gloucester during the 1643 siege by Royalist forces, rather than directly after the city itself. She was built by contract with shipwright Matthew Graves at Limehouse in East London, and launched in 1654.
Diving & visiting
In 2007, after a four-year-long search, the wreck of Gloucester was found 28 miles (45 km) off the Norfolk coast by an experienced underwater diving team, including brothers Lincoln and Julian Barnwell, who have since retrieved a variety of artefacts, including the ship's bell, a cannonball, spectacles, unopened wine bottles, and a Bartmann jug. The finding of a 1674 pewter teaspoon produced by the English manufacturer Daniel Barton ruled out the possibility of the wreck being HMS Kent, the only other Royal Navy ship of the period to be shipwrecked in the area. Also found was a wine bottle with a seal of George Legge's family heraldic crest.
Location
- Recorded position: 52.6000, 1.8100 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Sea
- Nearest coast: England
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article English ship Gloucester (1654) (revision 1357729290), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Discovery of the wreck”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- HMS Exmoor 1941 · 21 km
- HMT Force 1941 · 24 km
- U-13 1940 · 24 km
- HMT Agate 32 km
- SM UB-4 1915 · 36 km
- Dunwich Bank Wreck 40 km
Browse more: UK & Ireland wrecks · wrecks off England · North Sea