HMS Association (1697)
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Association was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1697. She served with distinction at the capture of Gibraltar, and was lost in 1707 by grounding on the Isles of Scilly in the greatest maritime disaster of the age. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.
An 18th-century engraving of the Scilly naval disaster, with HMS Association in the centre
This French 18-pounder bronze gun, probably a trophy from the siege of Toulon (1707) was recovered from the Association site in 1970. The main decoration shows the arms of France and Navarre surrounded by the collars of the orders of St Michel and the St Esprit, surmounted by a crown. The gun carriage is modern. In the Valhalla Museum in Tresco Abbey Gardens, Isles of Scilly.
Scilly naval disaster of 1707
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The Scilly naval disaster of 1707 was the loss of four warships of a Royal Navy fleet off the Isles of Scilly in severe weather on 22 October 1707. Between 1,400 and 2,000 sailors lost their lives aboard the wrecked vessels, making the incident one of the worst maritime disasters in British naval history. The disaster has been attributed to a combination of factors, including the navigators' inability to accurately calculate their positions, errors in the available charts and pilot books, and inadequate compasses.
An 18th-century engraving of the disaster, with HMS Association in the centre
Sir Cloudesley Shovell (1650–1707). Oil painting by Michael Dahl
The Isles of Scilly. The Western Rocks, Crim Rocks and Bishop Rock all are in the lower left of this image.
Shovell's monument in Westminster Abbey by Grinling Gibbons