Long-time followers of the Caird Library Blog may recall Tanya’s fascinating Item of the Month, looking at the collection of recently conserved books: An Account of the Loss of the 'Royal George' at Spithead, August, 1782. For those of you who missed the article the first time around, you may want to take a look: http://www.rmg.co.uk/researchers/collections/by-type/archive-and-library/item-of-the-month/previous/an-account-of-the-loss-of-the-royal-george-1782
I recently hosted a group visit to the Caird Library and … the Loss of the ‘Royal George’… was amongst the treasures from our collection that we looked at together. To complement the printed books, I also showed the final Lieutenant’s Logbook from the Royal George (NMM reference: ADM/L/G/209). It concludes in April 1782, three months before the ship is lost. You can see that the ship is “moored at Spithead” and the entries include weather observations and some details of shipboard activities. No hint of the forthcoming disaster is evident.
The Royal George was lost on 29th August 1782 (232 years ago last week) when in haste to get her to sea, to work on the hull she was heeled over too far, past the point of stability and water rushed in, causing her to fill and roll over, with the loss of over 900 lives.
Gareth (Library Manager)
