Plymouth's Maritime History Timeline

Year	Event	Monarch	War
12,000 BCE	People living at Cattedown in Plymouth, along with cave lions, rhinoceros, wolves and hyena
2500 BCE	Bronze age settlement at the head of Sutton Pool
2500 BCE	Ship from the Mediterranean visits Plymouth and loses a stone anchor
500-200 BCE	A ship from the Mediterranean loses an anchor in Plymouth Sound
450 BCE	Iron age settlements on Mount Batten
60 AD	Roman fort built at Calstock
120 AD	Roman fort at Calstock no longer in use
500 AD	Roman ship wrecks in Cawsand leaving an amphora full of wine on the seabed
9th Cent.	Plymouth known as Tamarworth, 'the island of the Tamar'
877 AD	Viking fleet wrecked on Mount Batten
	The town of Sutton or 'Sudtone' established
997 AD	Vikings venture up the river Tamar as far as 'Liddyford' (Lydford)
11th Cent.	Plymouth develops as a fishing village
1066	Norman invasion of England	William I
1154		Henry II
1189		Richard I
1199		John
1211	The name 'Plym Mouth' first used, mentioned in the Pipe Rolls
1216		Henry III
1254	Charter granted to Plymouth to be a market town
1272		Edward I
1307		Edward II
1327		Edward III
1337	Start of the Hundred Years War		Hundred Years War
1339	French fleet of 18 galleys and pinnaces attacks and burns houses in Plymouth
1347	Start of the Black Death pandemic
1348	Edward, Prince of Wales, makes Plymouth his headquarters for his campaign against France
1362	The first shipwreck recorded in Plymouth, the Tarrit
1377	Plymouth attacked and burnt by the French	Richard II
1399		Henry IV
1400	Plymouth attacked and burnt by the French
1403	Plymouth attacked and burnt by the French, led by Sieur du Chastel of St Malo
1413		Henry V
1422		Henry VI
1453	End of the Hundred Years War		Hundred Years War
1461		Edward IV
1470		Henry VI
1471		Edward IV
1483		Edward V
1483		Richard III
1485		Henry VII
1488	Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope
1492	Colombus rediscovers the Americas for Spain
1497	Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sails to India
1509		Henry VIII
1519	Ferdinand Magellan's expedition leaves to complete the first circumnavigation of the Earth
1537	Defences of Plymouth increased by the order of Henry VIII, including Fishers Nose, the Artillery Tower and St Nicholas Is.
1540	Francis Drake born at Tavistock
1540 (c)	The Cattewater Wreck sunk in the Cattewater
1547		Edward VI
1553		Mary I
1558		Elizabeth I
1577	Start of Drake's expedition to the Pacific coast of the Americas
1585	Start of the Anglo-Spanish War		Anglo-Spanish War
1588	Spanish Armada passes Plymouth
1598	Work completed building a Fort above the Barbican
1600	English East India Company founded
1602	Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded
1603		James I
1604	End of the Anglo-Spanish War		Anglo-Spanish War
1616	Danish East India Company founded
1620	The Mayflower leaves Plymouth for America
1625		Charles I
1628	Portuguese East India Company founded
1637	English East Indiaman Palsgrave lost on Drake's Island
1642	Start of the English Civil War
1643	First attack on Plymouth by the Royalist army from Cornwall in the English Civil War		English Civil War
1646	Siege of Plymouth lifted
1649	Execution of Charles I
1651	End of the English Civil War		English Civil War
1652	Start of the First Anglo-Dutch War		Anglo-Dutch War
1653		Oliver Cromwell
1654	End of the First Anglo-Dutch War		Anglo-Dutch War
1654	Start of the Anglo-Spanish War		Anglo-Spanish War
1658		Richard Cromwell
1660	End of the Anglo-Spanish War		Anglo-Spanish War
1660	Charles II reclaims the throne of England	Charles II
1665	The Great Plague of London
1665	Start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War		Anglo-Dutch War
1665	Building of the Citadel begins on the Hoe
1667	End of the Anglo-Dutch War		Anglo-Dutch War
1671	King Charles II inspects the Citadel
1672	Start of the Third Anglo-Dutch War		Anglo-Dutch War
1674	End of the Third Anglo-Dutch War		Anglo-Dutch War
1685		James II
1688	William, Prince of Orange, lands at Brixham and his fleet is welcomed into Plymouth Sound
1688	Start of the Nine Years War		Nine Years War
1689		William III
1689	HMS Henrietta and HMS Centurion wrecked on Mount Batten
1689	Devonport selected as the major base for the Royal Navy in the south-west
1691	HMS Coronation wrecked off Penlee Point and HMS Harwich sunk in the Barn Pool
1697	End of the Nine Years War		Nine Years War
1699	Winstanley completes the first Eddystone lighthouse
1702	Start of the War of the Spanish Succession	Queen Anne	Spanish Succession
1703	The Great Storm
1703	Eddystone lighthouse destroyed in the Great Storm, along with Winstanley
1707	Kingdom of Great Britain formed
1713	End of the War of the Spanish Succession		Spanish Succession
1714		George I
1717	Start of the War of the Quadruple Alliance		Quadruple Alliance
1720	End of the War of the Quadruple Alliance		Quadruple Alliance
1721	Dutch East Indiaman (VOC) Aagtekerke wrecked in Bovisand Bay
1725	Dutch East Indiaman (VOC) Astrea wrecked in Plymouth Sound
1727		George II
1736	Jonathan Hulls patents a steam towboat in Gloucestershire
1740	Start of the War of Austrian Succession		Austrian Succession
1744	HMS Victory foundered in the Channel
1748	End of the War of Austrian Succession		Austrian Succession
1754	Start of the Seven Years War		Seven Years War
1755	Rudyerd's Eddystone lighthouse destroyed by fire
1758	The turnpike road from London to Plymouth is completed
1759	Smeaton's stone lighthouse completed on the Eddystone
1760	HMS Conqueror wrecked on Drakes Island	George III
1762	A third dry dock, the North Dock, was built in the dockyard
1763	End of the Seven Years War		Seven Years War
1771	Iron knees stared to be fitted to wooden ships
1773	The first bridge was built over Stonehouse Creek linking Plymouth with Plymouth Dock
1774	Mr Day and the Maria make a one-way trip to the bottom of Drake Channel
1774	The roundhouse of HMS Kent was blown up whilst at anchor in the Sound
1775	Start of the American War of Independence		American War of Independence
1779	A combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 60 ships arrives in Cawsand Bay but left without firing a shot
1781	HMS Echo wrecked in the Cattewater
1783	End of the American War of Independence		American War of Independence
1786	Die Frau Metta Catharina von Flensburg sunk in the Barnpool
1788	First plan to build a breakwater across Plymouth Sound proposed by William Smith
1789	French Revolution
1791	The ferry from Plymouth Dock to Torpoint began operating
1792	Start of the French Revolutionary Wars		Revolutionary Wars
1793	Coates family begin distilling Plymouth Gin in the former Black Friars monastery
1795	Marshland at Laira was drained and Embankment Road built
1796	HMS Amphion blew up in the Hamoaze
1796	English East Indiaman Dutton wrecked on the Hoe
1798	HMS Pallas wrecked in Jennycliff Bay
1800	Dutch East India Company (VOC) dissolved
1802	End of the French Revolutionary Wars		Revolutionary Wars
1802	The first working paddle steam ship Charlotte Dundas tested on the Clyde canal
1803	Start of the Napoleonic Wars		Napoleonic Wars
1804	HMS Fearless wrecked on Redding Point
1807	The first commercial steamboat, the Clermont, launched
1808	HMS Crane wrecked on the Hoe
1811	HMS Amethyst wrecked in Jennycliff Bay
1812	Start of the War of 1812		War of 1812
1812	Building of the Breakwater started by John Rennie
1812	The prize Arrow taken to Plymouth and made into HMS Whiting
1813	HMS Captain burnt at her moorings in the Hamoaze
1814	The Demologos, the first steam powered warship launched
1815	End of the Napoleonic Wars, Battle of Waterloo		Napoleonic Wars
1815	End of the War of 1812		War of 1812
1815	The Thames steam boat arrives in Plymouth on its way to London, 'rapidly gliding on without masts or sails'
1817	HMS Jasper and HMS Telegraph were wrecked in the Sound
1819	The Vulcan passenger barge launched, the first all iron hulled ship
1819	Paddle steamer Savannah crosses the Atlantic
1820		George IV
1821	The Aaron Manby launched, the first steamship to be built of iron
1823	Plymouth Dock changes its name to Devonport
1824	Work on the Victualling Yard at Stonehouse was started
1827	Laira Bridge was opened
1830		William IV
1833	The Royal Navy starts experimenting with steam engines in its ships
1835	Building work on the Victualling Yard was completed at a cost of £700,000
1837		Victoria
1843	Brunel's Great Britain launched, the first ocean going propeller driven iron ship
1844	The Breakwater was completed, using 3,500,000 tons of stone and rubble
1845	Work started building Fort Bovisand, designed to mount twelve 18 pounder guns
1852	The brig Ocean Queen wrecked on the Mewstone
1853	Start of the Crimean War		Crimean War
1854	Paddlesteamer Ajax wrecked on the Mewstone Ledge
1856	End of the Crimean War		Crimean War
1859	The first ocean going ironclad battleship Gloire launched
1867	Work started building the Breakwater fort on the stump of Shovel Rock
1874	English East India Company dissolved
1877	Steamship Rothesay wrecked on the Mewstone
1878	Work starts on Mount Batten Breakwater in April
1884	The Promenade Pier built on the Hoe
1888	Steam ship Constance wrecked on the Shagstone
1890	Steam tug Lucy rammed and sunk in Jennycliff Bay
1901		Edward VII
1905	Submarine A8 sinks off the Knap Buoy and was successfully salvaged
1910		George V
1912	Vectis wrecked on Andurn Point, south of Bovisand Bay
1912	The Selandia, the first diesel powered ocean going ship was launched
1913	Hopper Barge #42 wrecked twice on the Breakwater
1914	The three towns of Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport incorporated into the County Borough of Plymouth
1914	HM Submarine A7 founders off Rame Head
1914	Start of the First World War		World War I
1916	Armed trawler Abelard lost on the Breakwater
1917	SS Rosehill sunk by UB40 in Whitsand Bay
1917	HMS Foyle sunk off Plymouth after hitting a mine
1918	The end of the First World War		World War I
1934	Steam Trawler Chancellor wrecked in Whitsand Bay
1936		Edward VIII
1936		George VI
1939	The start of the Second World War		World War II
1940	Poulmic sunk by a mine off the breakwater
1940	HMT Elk sunk by a mine south of the breakwater
1940	MFV Encourage sunk by a mine south of the breakwater
1940	Armed trawler Kingston Alalite sunk in Plymouth Sound
1941	Armed trawler Asama lost in Plymouth Sound
1942	Sunderland flying boat W6054 lost in the Sound
1942	Messerschmitt ME109 crashed in Cawsand Bay
1943	Lancaster bomber ED450 crashed onto the Breakwater
1944	Sunderland flying boat DD852 wrecked in Jennycliff Bay
1945	Liberty ship SS James Eagan Layne sunk in Whitsand Bay
1945	SS Persier sunk in Bigbury Bay
1945	The end of the Second World War		World War II
1952		Elizabeth II
1953	The British Sub-Aqua Club formed
1964	The paddle steamer Totnes Castle foundered in Bigbury Bay
1967	Coronation Inshore site found by Terry Harrison, Alan Down and George Sandford
1967	Terence Lamb discovered the Millbay Cannon site
1968	Ramscliff Cannon site found
1969	The S.S. Persier was discovered
1969	Mewstone Ledge cannon site discovered by Richard Middlewood
1970	Plymouth Ocean Projects take over Fort Bovisand and open a diving centre
1970	Glen Strathallan scuttled off the Shagstone
1970	HMS Foyle first dived by Kingston BSAC
1973	The Metta Catharina was found in the Barn Pool by Plymouth Sound BSAC
1977	Coronation Offshore site discovered by Peter McBride
1981	HMT Elk first located and dived
1982	The brig Taxiarchos found by Dave Peake
1984	The Fylrix capsised and sank in Jennycliff Bay
1994	Paddle steamer Totnes Castle rediscovered
1995	Plymouth Maritime Archaeological Interest Group (PMARIG) formed
1995	Pilot cutter Tavy scuttled off the Breakwater Fort by PMARIG
1996	Trawler Viking Princess foundered off Hilsea Point
1999	Sean McTierney and John Coyne form the Underwater Archaeological Club in Plymouth
2004	HMS Scylla scuttled off Whitsand Bay by Plymouth Marine Aquarium
2006	Totnes BSAC adopt the S.S.Rosehill under the NAS Adopt a Wreck scheme
2006	Metta Catharina project by Plymouth Sound BSAC completed
2008	BATSAC adopt the Liberty ship S.S. James Eagan Layne
2009	The SHIPS Project started
2010	The SHIPS Project is supported by Promare Inc. until 2016
2013	The SHIPS Project team discover HMS Amethyst in Jennycliff Bay
2021	The SHIPS Project becomes a Community Interest Company (CIC)