HMS Liverpool
Coventry class sixth-rate frigate, full-rigged ship, 590 tons.
Built Gorill and Pownall, Liverpool, launched 10 Feb 1758
Armament fitted at Liverpool: 28 guns (24 9-pounder; 4 3-pounder) plus 12 1/2-pounder swivel guns
Captain Richard Knight; she could accommodate 200 crew.
Aground Crosby 28 July 1758; later refloated.
Note: the Privateer Liverpool(Captain Hutchinson) sailed to and from
Liverpool in this year - a different vessel.
Pownall
Snow (wooden sailing vessel)
Voyage Antigua to Liverpool, Captain John Thomas
Cargo: sugar, rum, etc.
Captain, mate, pilot and 6 men lost; plus 6 from HMS Liverpool; 1 saved.
Driven ashore near Crosby, 28 July 1758 and subsequently broke up.
Contemporary newspaper reports:
HMS Liverpool Yesterday morning [28 July 1758] about one o'clock, his Majesty's
Ship Liverpool, (a new frigate of 28 guns built here[Liverpool]); parted her
small bower cable in a squall of wind at W as she lay off Crosby Point,
outward-bound. They let go the sheet anchor under foot, veered away half a
cable, and a whole best bower, which held her; the gale still increasing, and
heavy sea going, made her pitch her bows frequently under water, such
quantities came through the hawser locks and were shipped on board, that she was
soon water-logged, and they expected every moment that she would go down to
the bottom; upon which they determined to cut both cables, and, before they
could wear the ship, she drove on shore upon Crosby Point; the sough[sound of
the gale] of the sea made a high road over her, and she rolled so very much,
that they cut away the main and mizen mast, which made her more easy; as soon
as the tide left the vessel, most of the impressed men made their escape, and
as they found it impossible to stir the ship till her guns and materials were
removed from on board; Capt. Knight gave all the men their liberty go on shore
to refresh themselves, except the officers and seamen appointed to take care
of their stores, etc.
On Wednesday night between ten and eleven o'clock, his Majesty's Ship Liverpool (mentioned in our last to be on shore at Crosby Point) was happily got off, the weather being moderate, and yesterday morning brought up this river [Mersey] opposite the town; she is intended to be brought into the graving dock on Saturday. And we can't omit mentioning the indefatigable pains that Charles Goore, took in daily attending her, and, by his personal encouragement, persuaded the country people to assist in digging away the sand from about her, when on shore, removing the materials, since most of the crew having deserted the ship. Her guns and stores were chiefly brought up in carts to this town, and the greater part of her rigging are saved.
Image of Carysfort, a sister ship to HMS Liverpool;
HMS Liverpool, after repairs, was assigned to the Royal Navy squadron patrolling the English Channel near Dunkirk, on watch for French vessels seeking to prey on British merchant shipping.
Pownall Yesterday morning [28 July 1758] about one o'clock, the Snow Pownall, late Captain John Thomas, from Antigua, was wrecked opposite the North End near Crosby; all the people on board perished, except Mr. John Wright, a Master Boat-builder and Shipwright, who informs us: that he went down from hence to see his brother-in-law Captain Thomas, along with Mr. Roger Lowe, late the Undertaker of the Woollen Manufactory at Denbigh, John Southreen, Cabinet-maker and Joiner, and his Nephew, Master Thomas Rigby, cadet son of Mr. Rigby, Cabinet-maker, a youth of about 12 years.
In the approaches to Liverpool, two tenders belonging to the Liverpool,
Ship of War, obliged the incoming vessel, Pownall, to come to anchor near the N.
W. Buoy in the Channel, in order to impress their men; luckily the Pownall's
seamen made their escape in their own boat: Mr. Morgan, the Midshipman, with
five of his people stayed on board the Snow, sending two apprentices away in
the boat whom they had impressed. About eleven, it began to blow freshly; at
twelve (midnight) Tim Salthouse, the Pilot, determined to slip his cables,
apprehending she could fetch the town side. Capt. Thomas, Mr. James Webster, his
Mate, and Mr. Wright, objected against it, apprehending that it was much safer
to let go another anchor; however the Pilot still persisted, saying, as he had
the charge of the vessel, he would not be deflected. Thus he slipped his
cable, at 1, but before the vessel had time to wear, she struck; the second stroke
they perceived unhung her rudder, and broke off her keel; this time the sea
wash'd over them, rolling her upon her beam ends.
Mr. Wright had the good
fortune to get into the fore-top, where he hung six hours, frequently
overwhelm'd in water and sand, and often-times received violent strokes from
the yards, blocks and rigging, which nearly stunned him. From this deplorable
situation, almost perished with cold, and nearly enfeebled, he was relieved by one
of the inhabitants from the shore, who boldly ventured in to save him, it
being last quarter ebb. They got him up into one of the houses, and put him
into a warm bed, which greatly refreshed him. He can give no account what became
his fellow sufferers, only that he saw them all wash'd overboard. He held his
nephew in his arms as long as he was able, but at last a heavy sea wash'd him
from him. Captain Thomas, his Mate, Pilot, and two Men of War Seamen's bodies
are since thrown up. There were two boys and one sick man aboard the Pownall
(names unknown) exclusive of those mentioned, who all shared the same Fate.
In St Nicholas Churchyard at Liverpool is the memorial
inscription: Captain John Thomas lost in ship Pownall near this shore 28th
July 1758 age 30
The Pownall, late Capt. Thomas,
wreck'd off of the North End is broke up; her deck,
masts, and materials were separated from the hulk a day or two after she
went on shore, and the cargo of sugar, rum, etc. washed out of her.
As a consequence, it was reported in 1758 that "the
whole of the North Wales coast and Wirral peninsula, was roaring drunk after a
vessel with a huge cargo of wines and spirits ran aground on the Welsh
approaches to Liverpool".