English ship Swan (1641)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Swan.

History
Commonwealth Navy EnsignEngland
NameSwan
Launched1641 as HMS Swann
Commissioned1646 as Swan
Captured1645
FateSunk, 13 September 1653
General characteristics
Tons burthen200 (bm)
Sail planFull-rigged ship

Swan was a 200-ton warship of the English navy, launched as a Royalist vessel in 1641 but captured by the Commonwealth of England when her crew revolted in 1645. She carried twelve cannons,[1] which were cast by John Browne.

The warship was a part of Oliver Cromwell's fleet of six vessels which attacked a Royalist stronghold at Duart Castle in Mull, UK, during the English Civil War. She sank in storm on 13 September 1653 off the west coast of Scotland.[2][3]

A naval diver found the remnants of the Swan in 1979 and important items from the wreck were recovered during the 1990s in an excavation led by maritime archaeologist Colin Martin from the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland.[4][3] Items recovered at that time included a corroded pocket watch which appeared to look like "...little more than a lump of rock from the outside", many silver coins, iron guns and other military artifacts. The items were deposited with the National Museum of Scotland.[3]

  1. ^ Winfield 2009, p. 149
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Nature-2010.10.11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Swan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).