The 1805 Club uses cookies to ensure you have the best possible online experience. By continuing to use this site you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.
In 1943, during the evacuation of Crete, Admiral Cunningham famously remarked, “It takes three years to build a ship, 300 years to build a reputation – we’ll stay.” Reputation was the theme of my last Dispatch and it reaches out to this one. The Club exists to conserve the monuments and memorials of the Georgian sailing era and this allows us to delve into a substantial part of that 300-year period, even to its eve during the reign of Queen Anne, when within a few days of the October date of the Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell entered the history books. Returning home victorious from Gibraltar after skirmishes with the French Mediterranean forces his flagship, the Association, and three other ships struck rocks off the Scilly Isles on the foggy night of 22 October 1707 and sank like stones drowning over 2000 men. Only two washed ashore alive.
The tercentenary of this tragedy nearly passed by, but thanks to the enthusiasm of Justin Reay, one of our members and Cecil Isaacson Memorial lecturer for 2007, the Club teamed up with the Britannia Naval Research Association to arrange a moving wreath-laying ceremony beside Sir Cloudesley Shovell’s tomb in Westminster Abbey. Over 100 guests attended the ceremony, which was followed by a reception in the Commonwealth Rooms at the House of Commons. (See page 9)
