HMS Romney (1694)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Romney.

HMS Romney was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered to be built by commercial contract by Sir Henry Johnson on 16 November 1693 (along with her sistership, the Colchester - the contract for both ships was signed on 23 February 1694), and both ships were launched at the contractor's Blackwall Yard on 23 October 1694. The Romney was commissioned in 1695 under Captain Edmund Loades, for service in the Mediterranean.^[1][2]

Sir Cloudesly Shovel in the Association with the Eagle, Romney and the Firebrand, lost on the rocks of Scilly
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Romney
Ordered	16 November 1693
Builder	Johnson, Sir Henry Johnson, Blackwall Yard
Launched	23 October 1694
Fate	Wrecked, 26 October 1707
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	683 41⁄94 bm
Length	130 ft 0.5 in (39.6 m) (gundeck) 109 ft (33.2 m) (keel)
Beam	34 ft 4 in (10.5 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 7 in (4.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	230 in wartime, 160 in peace
Armament	52 guns: Lower gundeck 22 x 18 pdr culverins Upper gundeck 20 x 8 pdr demi-culverin3 Quarterdeck 8 x 6 pdr sakers Forecastle 2 x 6 pdr sakers

Commanded by Captain William Coney,^[3] Romney was wrecked on the Bishop & Clerks Rocks, off the Scilly Isles on 26 October 1707^[1][4] when a disastrous navigational error sent Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell's fleet through dangerous reefs while on their way from Gibraltar to Portsmouth. Four ships (Romney, Association, Firebrand and Eagle) were lost, with nearly 2,000^[5] sailors. Romney hit Bishop Rock and went down with all but one of her crew. The sole survivor was George Lawrence, who had worked as a butcher before joining the crew of Romney as quartermaster.^[6] The Scillies 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.