What was the name of the ship commemorated in the poem 'Toll for the Brave'?
Toll for the brave-
The brave! that are no more
All sunk beneath the wave
Fast by their native shore
William Cowper
William Cowper's well-known poem commemorates the accidental loss of the Royal George at Spithead in 1782. The Royal George was a first-rate ship of the line launched in 1756. In August 1782 she was in Portsmouth loading provisions and ammunition for the relief of Gibraltar when a small leak was noticed which necessitated heeling the ship to undertake repairs.
A considerable weight of stores was being unloaded on deck at the same time, and the motion of the store vessel alongside sent water slopping into the gunports, the covers of which had been left open. The ship went over and nearly 900 people were drowned, including Rear Admiral Kempenfelt.
There were various attempts to raise the wreck but she was never raised as a whole. In the 1830s, the Deane brothers salvaged guns and other relics from her. Finally, proving a hazard to shipping, she was demolished by a number of explosions during 1839–43.
Relics and timber were brought to the surface and many souvenirs were manufactured from her wood and metal, for sale to the public.