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On 12th February 1781, the 18-gun Royal Navy brig-sloop HMS Echo was wrecked in Deadman's Bay, in the Cattewater..

Type

A Royal Navy 18 gun warship

Location

Cattewater, Deadman's Bay

History

The Echo began her career as Hussard, a Cerf-class 18 gun brig-sloop built in St Malo in France and launched in April 1779. The renewal of the French Navy after the Seven Years’ War was responsible for the commission of many new naval constructions, in particular the building of a series of large cutters, one of which was Hussard. Hussard was later converted to a brig-sloop with two masts.

Hussard was taken by the the Plymouth-built 64 gun 3rd rate HMS Nonsuch under the command of Sir James Wallace while off Ushant in July 1780. The captured brig-sloop was taken into Royal Navy service as the Echo. The Echo was then commissioned under Cdr. John Manley in October and by December of the same year the sloop was refitted in Plymouth at a cost of £2,886.18.11d.

On 12th February 1781, Echo was ordered to sail from Plymouth to Spithead despite being very short-handed, so before leaving Captain John Manley left the sloop to call on the Port Admiral to request further hands. At around 5pm that evening the weather deteriorated with the wind reaching gale force from the south-west with squalls of hail. The master of the Echo, Peter Peterson, was the senior officer on board; the wind was now so strong that he feared for the safety of his ship so decided to leave the anchorage in the Sound and run for the shelter of the Cattewater. Peterson ordered her main and forestay sails be hoisted and her anchors slipped to save time.

At the entrance to the Cattewater, Echo ran into an anchored privateer's hawser which checked her forward progress, with difficulty she cleared herself but she was driven backwards by the strong southerly gale. With very little sea room in the Cattewater, Echo was now very close to the shore, so the ship let go her remaining anchors, the crew cut away the foremast and her guns were fired in distress. But the Echo dragged northwards and soon struck the rocks in Deadman's Bay on the northern shore, her mainmast was cut down and pumping commenced, but the water was gaining too rapidly so the crew abandoned ship, escaping over the masts that formed a bridge to dry land. Fifty men were sent from the Dockyard to assist the ship but Echo soon went to pieces and was abandoned as a wreck, only two months after she had been refitted and taken into Royal Navy service.

The fully-laden 600 ton Royal Navy store ship Thames under Capt. Moreley had been anchored north of Drake's Island, bound for New York. In the same storm, her anchor cables parted and the Thames drove ashore under Plymouth Hoe, the crew were saved but the vessel went to pieces within two hours. Six other prizes and other vessels went on shore in the Hamoaze but were later refloated.

Location and Access

Nothing remains of this shipwreck.

Last updated 11 February 2024

Position GPS: 50°21.86N 004°07.63W (PA)

Depth: On shore

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Information

Type:

Royal Navy 18 gun brig-sloop

Date Built:

1779

Date of Loss:

12th February 1781

Manner of Loss:

Wrecked

Outcome

Broken up

Builder:

Unknown, St Malo, France

Official Number:

None

Length

64ft 2in

Beam

28ft 2in

Draught

11ft 7in

Construction

Timber

Propulsion

Sail

Tonnage

271 tons

Nationality

British

Armament

18 x 6 pdr iron guns, newspapers say 14

Crew

90

Master

Peter Peterson

Owner

Royal Navy

Reference

None

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