HMS Association (1697)

Association was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1697.^[1][2] She served with distinction at the capture of Gibraltar, and was lost in 1707 by grounding on the Isles of Scilly in the greatest maritime disaster of the age. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.

18th-century engraving of the Scilly naval disaster of 1707, with Association in the centre
History
Great Britain
Name	Association
Ordered	20 December 1694
Builder	Bagwell, Portsmouth Dockyard
Launched	1 January 1697
Commissioned	July 1697
Fate	Wrecked, 22 October 1707 (OS)
General characteristics
Class & type	90-gun second-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1459 32⁄94bm
Length	165 ft (50.3 m) (gundeck)
Beam	45 ft 4 in (13.8 m)
Depth of hold	18 ft 3 in (5.6 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	800 officers and men (approx.)
Armament	22 demi-cannons 30 culverins 2 × 6-pdrs 24 sakers 2 × 3-pdrs

Service

Association survived the Great Storm of 1703, during which she was at anchor off Harwich. Her rigging was cut away to avoid foundering on the "Galloper" sandbar, and she was blown to Gothenburg in Sweden before she could make her way back to England.

Association served as the flagship of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell in the Mediterranean during the War of the Spanish Succession. Her engagements included the capture of Gibraltar on 21 July 1704, and the Battle of Toulon in summer 1707.

Sinking

Main article: Scilly Naval Disaster of 1707

In October 1707, Association, commanded by Captain Edmund Loades and with Admiral Shovell on board, was returning from the Mediterranean after the Toulon campaign. The 21 ships in the squadron entered the mouth of the English Channel on the night of 22 October 1707 (Old style). At 8 pm, Association struck the Outer Gilstone Rock (see image)^[3] off the Isles of Scilly, and was wrecked with the loss of her entire crew of about 800 men. As a result of navigational errors, the ships were not where they were reckoned to be. Association was seen by those on board HMS St George to go down in three or four minutes' time. Among the dead were Captain Loades and Admiral Shovell, his stepsons Sir John Narborough and James Narborough (sons of Shovell's wife from her marriage to Rear Admiral Sir John Narbrough) as well as Henry Trelawney, second son of the Bishop of Winchester. Captain Loades was the son of Rear Admiral Narbrough's sister.^[4] Three other ships (HMS Eagle, HMS Romney and HMS Firebrand) were also lost, bringing the death toll to nearly 2,000.^[5] The Scilly naval disaster was one of the greatest maritime disasters in British history. It was largely as a result of this disaster that the Board of the Admiralty instituted a competition for a more precise method to determine longitude. There is a memorial depicting the sinking of the Association in the church at the Narboroughs' home of Knowlton near Dover.

Discovery of the wreck

This French 18-pounder bronze gun, probably a trophy from the siege of Toulon (1707) was recovered from the Association site in 1970. The main decoration shows the arms of France and Navarre surrounded by the collars of the orders of St Michel and the St Esprit, surmounted by a crown. The gun carriage is modern. In the Valhalla Museum in Tresco Abbey Gardens, Isles of Scilly.

In June 1967, the minesweeper HMS Puttenham, equipped with twelve divers under the command of Engineer-Lieutenant Roy Graham, sailed to the Isles of Scilly and dropped anchor off Gilstone Ledge, just to the south-east of Bishop Rock^[6] and close to the Western Rocks. The year before, Graham and other specialists from the Naval Air Command Sub Aqua Club had dived in this area on a first attempt to find the Association. He recalled some years later: "The weather was so bad, all we achieved was the sight of a blur of seaweed, seals and white water as we were swept through the Gilstone Reef and fortunately out the other side."^[7][8] On their second attempt in summer 1967, using the minesweeper and supported by the Royal Navy Auxiliary Service, Graham and his men finally managed to locate the remains of Association on the Gilstone Ledge.^[7] Parts of the wreck are in 30 feet, while others can be found at between 90 and 120 feet as the sea floor falls away from the reef.^[9] The divers first discovered a cannon, and on the third dive, silver and gold coins were spotted underneath that cannon.^[7] The Ministry of Defence initially suppressed news of the discovery for fear of attracting treasure hunters, but word was soon out and excited huge national interest.^[6]The 'Admiralty' as it was then decided to issue three contracts to salvage the wreck .One to the Naval Team , one to Roland Morris of Penzance and another to Blue Sea Divers comprising Bob Rogers , Mike Ross , Terry Hiron and Jim Heslin . There was also another team who worked on the wreck with no contract led by Bill Sutton . As You can imagine , having four teams on the wreck site was impossible to control but the Uk press teams exagerated the situation stating in the newspapers that there were fights and dangerous happenings on the site . This was partially true but all the actual divers wbecame in fact , great friends . The Naval team left the site in 1968 and Roland morrises tem left in 1970 ( Bill Sutton Had already left taking a larg3e heavy suitcase on his boat called the Regency , which actually sunk half way to the Mainland ) Late this year the only people still working on the site were Jim Heslin and Terry Hiron . These two claimed 'Salvor in Possession' which meant that they could control who went on the site and were undisturbed in their salvage works . Before Morris left the site , his team had recoverd 2,000 coins and other artefacts from the wreck site and auctioned by Sotheby's in July 1969.^[10] The rediscovery of the Association and the finding of so many historical artefacts in her wreck also led to more government legislation, notably the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, passed in an attempt to preserve British historic wreck sites as part of the maritime heritage.^[11] Heslin and Hiron asked the government to Protect the wreck under this legislation in 1973 . This was refused as it was considered by English Heritage that there was no 'historical importance ' in what was left after the mass salvage done between 1967 and 1973. English Heritage then asked the government minister in charge to issue an 'Emergency Protection Order' in 2014 after another 31 years of salvage . This was granted without any consultation with the 'Salvors in Possession'and is still in force . During their time as 'Salvors' Heslin and Hiron measured the wreck site , or the area which had been discovered , and they produced a detailed chart of the site listing where all the important finds had been discovered . As , due to weather conditions salvage was only possible for an average of 20 days a year this took about five years to complete . It is however far more accurate than anything produced since !

In 2017 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society (CISMAS) undertook a survey of the site of the Association.^[12] A 3D site plan^[13] was produced for Historic England along with photos from the dive showing the difficult diving conditions.

In fiction

In Robert Goddard's novel Name to a Face,^[14] a central plot element is the recovery of a ring worn by Admiral Shovell at the time of Association's sinking.