PeterSummers
New Member
I am writing a short article for a society I belong to to be published, I hope, in Spring 2021. This is a request for advice regarding use of a diagram or map free of copyright of the sea around Portland Bill and the Shambles so that non-sailing readers can get an idea of the conditions that exist in that area.
To summarize the article, ahead of writing it (!!), on 5 Feb 1805, the Earl of Abergavenny, an East Indiaman, had been in convoy (it was the time we were at war with France) heading west away from Portsmouth when the convoy leader decided to shelter in Portland Roads. The pilot on board the Earl took the southern route roound the Shambles but cut it fine and when the wind dropped the ship was driven onto the sand bank. It's bottom was damaged and the ship began to sink. It managed to get part way to the roads but sank, sitting on the bottom with it's masts above the water. The weather was terrible. My forebear, an artillery soldier, with his cousin, climbed to the cross trees with others and survived the night. Many men died that night. The men who made it were put onto the next East Indiaman, the Bombay Castle, and sent on their way again!
The story has been told in a number of places including the Times of the period, a book and reports by the investigation that followed. A very good detailed account is in https://www.nauticalarchaeologysoci...shx?IDMF=a3a1d637-5890-411d-9fa9-98c0f2ac0980 with page 45 being quite relevant, in writing, to what I'm seeking which is a map which shows the location of the event. Monty Mariner, in his web page, has some good diagrams I feel but no contact information to get permission assuming that he created the charts. I am very open to advice regarding other charts that may show the situation that exists round Portland Bill to help the non-marine reader understand what faced Captain John Wordsworth that fateful day. He was William Wordsworth's brother and the ship carried much of the Wordsworth's financial future, sadly.
Thanks for any advice,
Peter
To summarize the article, ahead of writing it (!!), on 5 Feb 1805, the Earl of Abergavenny, an East Indiaman, had been in convoy (it was the time we were at war with France) heading west away from Portsmouth when the convoy leader decided to shelter in Portland Roads. The pilot on board the Earl took the southern route roound the Shambles but cut it fine and when the wind dropped the ship was driven onto the sand bank. It's bottom was damaged and the ship began to sink. It managed to get part way to the roads but sank, sitting on the bottom with it's masts above the water. The weather was terrible. My forebear, an artillery soldier, with his cousin, climbed to the cross trees with others and survived the night. Many men died that night. The men who made it were put onto the next East Indiaman, the Bombay Castle, and sent on their way again!
The story has been told in a number of places including the Times of the period, a book and reports by the investigation that followed. A very good detailed account is in https://www.nauticalarchaeologysoci...shx?IDMF=a3a1d637-5890-411d-9fa9-98c0f2ac0980 with page 45 being quite relevant, in writing, to what I'm seeking which is a map which shows the location of the event. Monty Mariner, in his web page, has some good diagrams I feel but no contact information to get permission assuming that he created the charts. I am very open to advice regarding other charts that may show the situation that exists round Portland Bill to help the non-marine reader understand what faced Captain John Wordsworth that fateful day. He was William Wordsworth's brother and the ship carried much of the Wordsworth's financial future, sadly.
Thanks for any advice,
Peter
