Sites : Coronation
Location -
Off Penlee Point, South Devon, UK
Coordinates : 50 18.9600N
004 11.5700W (WGS84) Depth : 15-18m
Conditions : Exposed to the South, good visibility
Type : Warship, 2nd Rate, 90 guns
Built : 1685 Lost : 1691
Diving restricted - Designated under the UK
Protection of Wrecks Act (1973)
National Monuments Record No.: Inshore 1082130 /
Offshore 1082129
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| The Coronation was as 2nd rate
British warship built 1685, she sank 1691 in a storm whilst attempting to
get into Plymouth Sound.
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'A
second rate ship the Coronation coming into the Sound her anchors being
let drop, and veering out cable to bring her up, she took a salley and
sank down to rightes in about 22 fathom, having on board above 500 men and
not above 20 of them saved, and a ship of ninety guns, a very dreadful
accident and a great loss, and the real cause was scarce ever known; she
was commanded by Captain Skelton' - Edward Barlow |
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| Round shot and guns had been found on Penlee
Point on the Western side of Plymouth Sound. The site had not been
identified as part of the Coronation so a search for the remains of the ship was
started in 1971 by a team led by Peter McBride. A site off Penlee Point
was found in 1977 after 2800 man hours searching using a magnetometer from a
small boat. When the team investigated they found the site consisted of 15
iron guns and three large anchors strewn over a rocky seabed. One of the
few small artifacts found on the site included a folded up pewter plate, this
plate bore the crest of Capt Charles Skelton, the captain of the Coronation.
Since then the two sites have been identified as
being parts of the Coronation. The seabed on the inshore site is made up
of deep gullies topped with kelp, at the bottom of the gullies the remains of
the Coronation are scattered. The only visible artifacts are the 53 guns
and a few anchors. The offshore site is in about 20m with a seabed made up
of sand patches and low reef. The distance between the two sites is about
1200m, between the sites lie an intermediate site which has two guns and an
anchor. Other artifacts have been found on a line between offshore and
inshore sites but there have been many wrecks on Penlee Point and the area was
used as a dumping ground for many years.
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the Site file to open in the free Site Reader program 
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| In recent years the offshore site has been used
as a place for testing and developing survey techniques. The site is ideal
as a test case as it is large (40m x 20m), very three dimensional yet there is
no risk of damaging anything. The first step was to calculate the positions of
4 points on the site, this was done by placing small transponder beacons on the
points positioned with a Sonardyne positioning system more usually used for
positioning seismic cables. The beacons were positioned to about 300mm and
so could then be used as position control for the next phase. The next step was to use Site
Recorder to
position the guns and anchors on site. A network of 12 control points were
put around the perimeter of the site. The positions of these points was
determined by the seabed, the points had to be put on the tops of the reef so
distance measurements could be made between them. The 12 control points
were positioned using a set of tape measurements between them plus depth
measurements. This control network was then used to position the guns and
anchors, two points on each gun and three points on each anchor.
The re-survey work on the offshore site by PMARIG was
started in 1996 and stopped in 1999. Further work on the
intermediate and inshore sites was completed by Rob George up until
2003. In 2006 the site was adopted by Sarah Ward, Research Officer
with the Nautical Archaeology Society, with the aim of completing the
remaining survey and recording tasks.
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| To assist with training volunteers
working on the site a 3D computer model has been generated. |
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Bibliography
- Historic Shipwrecks, Fenwick V. & Gale A., 1998,
Tempus Publishing Ltd., ISBN 07524 1416 X, pp102-103 [ABE]
- Great British Wrecks, McDonald K., 1987, Underwater
World Publications, ISBN 0 946020 12 4, pp30-48 [ABE]
- Navy Board Ship Models, Franklin D., 1989, Conway
Maritime Press, ISBN 0 85177 454 7, pp102-107 [ABE]
- The Sailing Navy List, Lyon D., 1993, Conway Maritime
Press, ISBN 0 85177 864 X, pp11 [ABE]
- British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, Hepper D.,
1994, Jean Boudriot Publications, ISBN 0 948864 30 3, pp14
[ABE]
- Great Ships - The Battlefleet of King Charles II, Fox
F., 1980, Conway Maritime Press, ISBN 0 85177 166 1 [ABE]
- The Wreck Detectives, McDonald K., 1972, Harrap, ISBN
0 245 50899 6 [ABE]
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