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HMS Royal Anne Galley was a 42-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She ran aground and was wrecked during a gale off Lizard Point, Cornwall, while she was travelling to the West Indies. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.
Royal Anne Galley was constructed and launched in 1709 at Woolwich Dockyard. She was completed in 1709. She was named Royal Anne Galley after Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and served from 1709 until her loss in 1721. The ship was 38.7m (127feet) long, with a beam of 6.4m (21feet) and the ship was assessed at 511bm. She had 42 cannons and was the Royal Navy's last oared fighting ship.
On 10 November 1721, HMS Royal Anne Galley was on a voyage from the UK to the West Indies with John Hamilton, 3rd Lord Belhaven and Stenton, the new Governor of Barbados on board, when bad weather forced the ship to return to port in Falmouth. Before they could return, Royal Anne Galley was in the eye of the storm and she was wrecked on the Stag Rocks on Lizard Point, Cornwall. Of the 200 passengers and crew, only two survived the sinking. Lord Belhaven was amongst those killed. It is believed by some that their bodies were buried by locals in Pistil Meadow as they were washed up, although others dispute this.[1] [2] [3]
The wreck of the ship lies at (49.9167°N -17°W) and was found near Lizard Point by local diver called Robert Sherratt in the 1991. Some artefacts that were raised includes cutlery bearing Lord Belhaven's family crest.