Shipwreck of the two Shallops in Port des Francois

This print depicts the wreck of two boats in Lituya Bay, Alaska, on 13 July 1786. Inscribed beneath the image ‘Shipwreck of the two Shallops in Port des François’.

The depicted incident occurred during a global expedition commanded by the French naval officer Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse. The voyage departed from Brest on 1 August 1785 with two ships, ‘L’Astrolabe’ and ‘La Boussole’. They anchored in Lituya Bay, which Lapérouse called ‘Port de Français’, on 3 July and encountered the indigenous Tlingit people. On 13 July, three boats sailed into the bay to take depth soundings but heavy currents at the entrance of the bay caused the wreck of two of the boats with loss of 21 sailors.

There are no publication details on the print. It is a reduced copy of the engraving of the scene, drawn by Nicolas Ozanne and engraved by François Dequevauviller for the French publication of charts and plates relating to the voyage, 'Atlas de la Perouse', no. 24 (Paris: L'Imprimerie de la Republique, An V, 1797), no. 25.

Mounted with PAH7408.