Troopships lost 1650
5 wooden sailing ships
Wrecked February 1650 with 200 men lost.
The Cromwellian invasion of Ireland from 1649 required a huge number of sailing vessels to transport and support the military force. There are reports of significant losses of troop ships along a stretch of the southern Irish coast from Kinsale to Dungarvan in February 1650.
Between March and June 1651, for example, one English newsbook, A Perfect Diurnall of Some Passages and Proceedings, included details of over 9,000 men who sailed from various ports to join the army in Ireland. Transporting these men and supplies required a huge logistical effort. The navy pressed large numbers of privately owned merchantmen and colliers into service to carry reinforcements and other military necessities to Ireland. Most of the ships that transported soldiers across were quite small. Two vessels, the Patience of Minehead (60 tons) and the Sarah of Minehead (15 tons), carried 230 infantry between them to Waterford in 1651. The voyage to Ireland could be extremely hazardous. Shipwrecks occurred when vessels sailed in stormy weather or with crews unfamiliar with the Irish coast. In February 1650, five ships carrying over 200 soldiers sank between Kinsale and Dungarvan during a storm. The presence of privateers in the seas around Ireland also made the crossing perilous.