When an Earl Lied and 230 Men Vanished at Sea

When an Earl Lied and 230 Men Vanished at Sea

A Royal Navy warship with an earl's coat of arms sank north of Cuba on 21 November 1693 with approximately 230 men aboard - and not a single survivor or account of the last hours was ever recorded. How did a vessel sworn never to serve militarily end up escorting a convoy that went down, leaving unpaid debts and unanswered questions at the bottom of the Caribbean?

In this episode, we recount the documented decisions, sworn statements, court actions and institutional choices that connect the ship's construction in Deptford to its loss at sea, and ask whether the records themselves explain how two hundred and thirty men were sent to their deaths.

Person: Charles Mordaunt, third Earl of Peterborough Ship: HMS Mordaunt (formerly a merchant syndicate commission) Date: 21 November 1693 Location: north of Cuba Crew: approximately 230 men

- The ship measured 122 feet 6 inches from bow to stern and had a keel of 101 feet 9 inches. - The beam was 32 feet 4.5 inches and the hold was 13 feet deep, displacing over 567 tons. - The hull carried fifty-six gun ports, with a practical maximum of forty-eight guns. - Charles Mordaunt swore in July 1681 before the Admiralty Court that the ship would not be used for military purposes. - On 7 October 1682 the ship was sold into the Royal Navy and entered service as HMS Mordaunt.

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