HMS Guardian 1790
Marker: recorded wreck position (Age of Sail).
Key facts
| Name | HMS Guardian | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1790 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Age of Sail | derived from year |
| Ship type | fifth-rate frigate | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Storm or weather | Wikidata P828 has cause (on P793 event): hurricane |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Royal Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | INDIAN OCEAN | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Position | -44.0000, 41.0000 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
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. In 1789 Riou sailed 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 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 Guardian's boats, but refused to leave his ship.
Location
- Recorded position: -44.0000, 41.0000 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: INDIAN OCEAN
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Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HMS Guardian (1784) (revision 1345239121), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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